


we've gotta stop meeting like this

by koalabear77



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, F/F, Fluff and Humor, all the ships will sail, and tiny bits of monwinn, everyone is gay and hopefully it's funny, i just really wanted to see supercorp in the debs universe, lasquez, oh hey legends welcome to my fic, sanvers will happen eventually too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2018-09-18 01:13:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9357968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koalabear77/pseuds/koalabear77
Summary: One was a superhero. The other was a supervillian. Can it be any more complicated?aka the debs au no one asked for





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> first time writing in the supergirl fandom, so leave some love and your thoughts in the comments!  
> unbeta'd, all mistakes are mine

There is a secret paramilitary academy hidden even from most government agencies. Those who are recruited have innate abilities to lie, cheat, fight, and kill. Some call them seductresses. Others call them spies. They call themselves D.E.B.S. Discipline, Energy, Beauty, Strength. Their mission? To protect Earth against threats, whether domestic, foreign, or extraterrestrial.

 

Kara was recruited to the D.E.B.S. the year after her sister Alex was. This was fitting, considering Kara had wanted to be just like Alex ever since the Danvers' adopted her at 13 and she gained a big sister for the first time. And if Alex minded that Kara was always following around after her, she didn't let on. Afterall, it was really impossible to hold anything against Kara when she excelled at everything she did and had a pout that could weaken even the most sturdy defenses. So when the D.E.B.S. found out about Alex's alien foster sister after recruiting her and wanted her help in recruiting Kara the next year, Alex couldn't say no to Kara following in her footsteps in that too.

That's how Alex found herself team leader to her baby sister Kara and Kara's two best friends, the inseparable Winn and Mon-el.

 

Hank's voice boomed over the intercom in the team's home base.

"Attention D.E.B.S.! Attention! Emergency alert!"

Alex shot out of bed, gun in hand, on high alert while she figured out what was going on.

"That means now, ladies! And... non-ladies. No time to waste!"

Hank was still yelling in the background as Alex got her gear together and got ready to march out. She left her room and went to check on the others.

"Go, go, go!"

Alex stopped in Kara's room first.

"Kara!"

"The world could be being destroyed while you nap!" Hank's disembodied voice continued to bellow.

"Kara, let's go. Hank is freaking out." Kara was already up and out of bed, frantically grabbing clothes.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming."

Alex went to Winn's room next.

"Winn, let's go." She saw another figure under the covers in Winn's bed. "And you know the rules," she admonished while throwing clothes at him, attempting to rush him into getting dressed. "No male guests after dark."

Mon-el sheepishly peered over the covers.

"Even if they already live here?" Mon-el asked, the picture of innocence.

"Even then," Alex countered. She left the two of them to get dressed. It's not like she was actually upset. This was the 8th or 9th time she had found them like that. But still, as team leader, she had to at least keep up the pretense of attempting to follow the rules.

As Alex made her way downstairs, she heard the house phone ringing and grabbed it off its hook.

"Hello?" The voice on the other line greeted Alex and asked for Kara. "Kara!" Alex called up to her. "Phone for you!"

Kara answered it in her room.

"Hello? No. No! I'm not-" The voice interrupted her. 

"D.E.B.S., I do not have all day!" Hank continued to yell.

"I'm not talking about this right now!" Kara continued into the phone. With that, she hung up. Her cellphone started ringing almost immediately. "James, now really isn't a good time," Kara said when she answered it.

"When then?" James asked from the other end of the phone. "When is a good time?"

"Kara!" Alex bellowed from downstairs, the rest of the team already gathered and ready to march out.

"Stop calling," Kara replied to James and hung up again. Her computer started blinking with a skype notification. She answered it with an exasperated huff.

"After all we've been through?" James' face pleaded to the computer screen.

"Goodbye, James." Kara slammed the computer screen shut and ran downstairs to meet the others. "Ok, ok! I'm here." As they were headed out, Kara turned to Alex. "I broke up with James." Alex stopped dead in her tracks and whirled around to face Kara.

"What?"

"I broke up with James," Kara repeated a little louder. Winn and Mon-el froze and turned toward her wide-eyed.

"I heard that," Alex deadpanned. "But why?"

"Seriously, why?" Winn prompted.

"Yeah, he's so handsome!" Mon-el chimed in.

"And dreamy," Winn agreed. Mon-el turned to his boyfriend.

"And those eyes?" Mon-el added. He and Winn sighed together, lamenting Kara's loss.

"Things with him were just boring," Kara explained when the wonder twins were finally done swooning. "He wasn't right for me. We're better off as friends." The team got in the car and drove to the meeting place where Hank had called them from.

"Well, he's an ass." Alex was trying to be supportive. Or, that's what she would say to whoever asked. Really, she just thought he was an ass.

"Oh but I like him," Winn whined.

"Yeah, he's nice." Mon-el was quick to back up his boyfriend.

"I just want to be in love," Kara lamented as they got out of the car and went in to see their handler.

"My 2 favorite D.E.B.S." Hank said adoringly when they got to him. "Winn, Mon-el." Hank greeted them with slightly less warmth.

"Hey Mr. Green!" Mon-el responded happily.

"Don't call me that," Hank grit out. The green martian hated the nickname, but the daxamite just wouldn't let it go. "Anyway, we have a special guest this morning." Hank struggled a bit on the word "special." "Ms. Grant."

"Ms. Grant?" Alex was confused. The boss lady never came to meet with any of the D.E.B.S personally.

"Cat's coming?!" Kara squealed happily. She had been Kara's mentor and trainer when she was first recruited, and Kara hadn't seen much of her since Cat had been promoted. Kara had been happy that all Cat's hard work had paid off and she had become the Director, but it still hurt to be away from her for so long.

"Ladies." The five agents were startled by a hologram of a very stern looking Cat Grant appearing in front of them. "No time for pleasantries. Harry, a matter of great importance has come to my attention." Hank clenched his jaw. He hated that Ms. Grant felt the need to get subordinate's names wrong on purpose. "Lena Luthor is back." Cat's words were met with a collective gasp and one blank stare. "I expect to be kept in the loop. Chop chop!" Cat's hologram disappeared, and the group was at a loss.

"Shit." Alex was pissed.

"Oh my god." Winn was on the verge of pissing himself.

"I'm writing my thesis on her!" Kara was warring between fear and excitement. "I can't believe she's back."

"Who's Lena Luthor?" Mon-el was just confused. It wasn't his fault though, having only been on this planet for a year.

"She's the last surviving member of the Luthor crime family. Her family was at war with Superman for years," Kara explained. The fact that Superman was Kara's cousin was one of the reasons Cat suggested Lena as a thesis topic when they started training together. "Lena was adopted by the Luthors when she was four. Superman killed her father Lionel and her brother Lex, and the D.E.B.S. arrested her mother Lillian off an anonymous tip a year later."

"After her brother died, she inherited the whole crime syndicate," Hank carried on, explaining the images appearing on the screen in front of them. "Illegal arms-running, smuggling, theft, alien opposition, collecting kryptonite. She's been carrying on the family business, but she's been untraceable since Lex's death. She's protected by a band of loyal mercenaries led by this woman-" A picture of a dark-haired latina woman appeared on the screen. Alex took a sharp intake of breath that went unnoticed by everyone but Kara. (Damn her Kryptonian superhearing.) "-Sawyer. It is believed that Lena Luthor is behind the plot to sink Australia a few years ago. Every attempt by law enforcement to apprehend her has failed."

"Yikes," Mon-el said worriedly.

"That's not even the worst part," said Winn.

"What's the worst part?" Mon-el asked. Everyone turned to face Hank.

"No one has ever fought her and lived to tell about it." Mon-el gasped too now, a little late but he got there eventually.

"So why do you think she's back in town?" Alex asked, taking point.

"Our intel suggests she's here to meet this woman." A picture of a gorgeous Asian woman with an elaborate snake tattoo appeared on the screen. "Veronica Sinclair. Ex-Triad, now freelance assassin and alien fight-club manager. They're scheduled to meet tonight at 0800 hours. Your job is to find out what Luthor is up to. Strictly surveillance. Do not try to apprehend her yourselves." Hank stressed upon them. "Alex, you're in charge. Kara, you're second."

The team started to get their tactical gear together. Kara turned to Alex with a curious look.

"What could a reclusive criminal mastermind want with a Triad-trained killer?" Kara asked her sister. Alex just shrugged in response. The team started to march out.

"And D.E.B.S.?" Hank called after them. "Be careful."

 

Down in the Luthor Lair (appropriately adorned in various signs with sentiments along the lines of "A Good Deb is a Dead Deb"), Sawyer was briefing Lena on her upcoming meet with Veronica Sinclair. Her rap sheet was up on the screens, and Lena looked slightly skeptical.

"Your scheduled meet is at 0800 hours," Sawyer informed her.

"Where'd you find her?" Lena asked.

"Lucy tipped us. Said she was available, in from Tokyo, relocating stateside."

"Assassin?"

"Check."

"Where's the meet?"

"The Dolly Parton. Friendly, yet discreet." Sawyer waited for Lena's approval with baited breath.

"Cancel it." Sawyer groaned.

"No. Why? It's all set up."

"I don't do blind dates," Lena replied as she walked away from her best friend.

"It's not really a blind date if you know what they look like," Sawyer argued following after her.

"Tell her I'm not coming. Say I came down with something."

"Lena, it's been 2 years." Sawyer knew Lena could be stubborn, but she could be stubborn too. "You have to get out there."

"I am out there. I went out with Lucy!"

"You did not go out with Lucy. We all went out with Lucy and then you bailed when you thought she was coming onto you."

"Well she was coming on a little strong. I mean who flirts like that? With the eyes?"

"You flirt like that. Or at least you used to. Look, I get it. You were dumped."

"I was not dumped."

"Oh, you were dumped. You were dumped hard. It was like a big, heaping pile of dumped," Sawyer pointed out smugly.

"Shut up." Lena was pouting now.

"But you need to get over it. You've taken your time, gone off to Antarctica or whatever-"

"It was Iceland," Lena interrupted.

"-tried to bury yourself in your little plans to destroy the world," Sawyer carried on. "But now it's time to get back in the game."

"Oh really? This coming from you?" Lena asked incredulously.

"I'm in the game," Sawyer protested.

"You have sex."

"A lot of really, really good sex." Sawyer looked proud when she said that.

"It's not the same."

"Well it's more than you have. Look, Lena, I'm saying this from a place of love. You've got a date tonight with a gorgeous assassin and you're going to show up and that's that." Sawyer stared Lena down. Lena kept pouting. "Lena," Sawyer warned her.

"Fine."

"Fine what?"

"Fine, I'll go."

"Yes!" Sawyer fist pumped. "Just promise that you'll be open?"

"Open to what?" Lena had already agreed to go. She couldn't guess what else Sawyer could possibly want.

"Open to love!" Sawyer really was a cheeseball underneath all the sarcasm.

 

The D.E.B.S. team had arrived at the Dolly Parton bar and were in their surveillance positions hanging from the rafters when Winn got an incoming call over his walkie.

"D.E.B.S. Winn speaking. Over," Winn said into the walkie.

"Winn, put her on," came through from the other side.

"It's James," Winn said to Kara, leaning over Alex.

"I don't want to talk to him," Kara replied.

"She doesn't want to talk to you. Over," Winn said to James. A moment later, James came abseiling down from the rafters and stopped next to Kara.

"James!" Kara yelped surprised.

"We need to talk," James said like nothing was wrong.

"I told you, it's over. What are you even doing here?"

"You think you guys are the only ones on this? Everyone's here. FBI-" He pointed below them. "CIA." He pointed to the right.

"Even vigilantes apparently," Kara said with an exasperated sigh, indicating James dressed in his Guardian suit.

"I can't believe this," Alex gritted out. "This was supposed to be our op." James looked over at the rest of the team in annoyance.

"Can you guys give us some space?" Alex, Winn, and Mon-el shuffled off to the side a few paces.

"Look, I just need to know why my girlfriend of 8 months decided to up and break up with me for no reason." James looked hurt, and Kara never wanted to hurt him.

"What are they saying?" Mon-el asked Winn from the side.

"Just give me a sec to hack her phone and listen," Winn replied, ever the dutiful spy.

"It wasn't for no reason," Kara said to James

"Is there somebody else?" James asked.

"He's asking if there's someone else," Winn relayed to the others.

"Is there?" Alex asked, suddenly interested if it meant that Kara had been keeping something from her.

"There's no one else." Kara was quick to placate James.

"No one else." Winn once again passed on the information.

"I'm just not in love with you. I'm sorry." And for her part, Kara truly was. "I don't know what else to say."

"Well I guess no one is good enough for little miss Supergirl," James bit out, hurt. 

 

"You can do this," Sawyer said, trying to pump up Lena about her date outside the bar as she dropped her off.

"Why is it that I can hold the whole world hostage and I'm scared of going on one blind date?" Lena lamented.

"Because love is harder than crime," Sawyer replied like it was the simplest thing in the world. "Now, go knock em dead! Though... you know... not literally."

"Sure." Sawyer gave Lena one last thumbs up before she went into the bar.

 

"Alright, she's here," Alex said when she noticed Lena walk into the bar. "We have visual," she said to Winn and Mon-el, still giving the parting couple their alone time. But Kara overheard Alex's comment and was now looking through her own pair of binoculars, trying to ignore James.

"Wow," Kara whispered when she saw her. She looked over to Alex who had finally brought the rest of the team back over.

"What?" Alex asked her.

"Lena," Kara replied. "She's real." (Really pretty is what she didn't say.) "I just can't believe she's real."

 

"Hi, sorry I'm late," Lena greeted Veronica as she sat down at the bar next to her. "I got lost on the way."

"It's no problem," Veronica replied in her sultry voice. "I was early."

 

"I have that sweater!" Winn exclaimed to Mon-el.

"What?"

"I have the sweater Lena's wearing, but in taupe."

"Really? Where'd you get it?" Mon-el loved fashion.

"Target," Winn replied.

"No way!"

"Shut up!" Alex scolded them. It was game time.

"They also have it in teal," Winn whispered to Mon-el.

 

"So you're an assassin?" Lena asked Veronica. Veronica nodded in response. "How's that work?"

"It's mostly freelance. Though probably not nearly as interesting as talking about you," Veronica replied, leaning forward seductively. And... yup. This was way too much for Lena already.

"You know-" she started, trying to come up with an excuse, "-I'm really not feeling well."

"No?" Veronica asked skeptically.

"No. Food poisoning probably." Lena was really bad at this.

"Shame," Veronica responded. "I really hoped you wouldn't blow me off."

"No!" Lena tried to reassure her. "That's not what this is, promise." If only not to be on the bad side of the Triad. But she really, really didn't want to be here anymore, being hit on by a slinky, alien-hating assassin.

 

"Can I at least have my bracelet back?" James asked before he gave up on Kara and left for good. "It's the last thing I have of my father."

"Of course!" Kara could at least give him this. However, being the clutz that she was, alien stamina notwithstanding, she couldn't control her strength getting it off, and it went flying... 

down... 

down... 

down... 

straight into Lena Luthor's drink.

Lena looked up and noticed all the operatives surrounding her. Everyone froze. And then, almost as quickly, shots fired from every direction in every direction and mass chaos ensued. The D.E.B.S. descended, firing on Lena and, little did they know, her date. Lena and Veronica slid behind the bar and fired back. The feds swooped in, adding to the mass panic in the bar.

"You know, we make a good team," Veronica supplied to Lena in between shots.

"I'm sorry, I just got back into town, you know, and I just got out of a relationship-" Lena tried to explain.

"Oh, honey. I never said I was looking for a relationship." Honestly, that was even worse in Lena's eyes.

"Look, it's not you. You seem... nice... and all. It's me." Lena wasn't really convinced Veronica was that nice at all. Lena threw a grenade over the bar at the D.E.B.S. who scattered, clearing them some space.

"Your loss," Veronica said with one last glance and took off out of the bar. Lena huffed. Oh well, she'd been on worse first dates. On the other side of the bar, Alex stalked toward her in her black ops tactical uniform, the picture of badassery. They once again fired shots at each other. Lena rolled out from behind the bar and grabbed one of the the small tables as cover, all the while being shot at by the entire D.E.B.S. team, and finally made it out the rear door. Alex turned to the rest of her team when it was clear she was gone.

"Winn and Mon-el, you go out the front door and head Lena off. Kara and I will follow her out the back." Once Alex gave the orders, the couple rushed out the front door, leaving her alone with her sister. "Let's go!" she called to Kara. They left through the rear door. "Ok, I'll check the parking lot, you go that way," she said, pointing around the side of the bar. "Stay in communication range." Kara nodded and they parted ways. Kara rounded the bar slowly, gun drawn as she heard her sister's footsteps getting quieter. Using her superhearing, she could tell there was someone around the corner. Kara sped up to catch up to whoever it was, and as she rounded the corner-

BAM!

-she rammed right into someone and knocked them to the floor. (Superstrength can be a bitch.)

"Oh god, I'm so sorry-" Kara started her rambling apology. "-I didn't see you, and then I just came around the corner so fast-" Kara continued while helping the stranger up. "-and I'm so sorry I knocked you down, I should have been paying more attention-" Kara froze when the stranger was finally standing and facing her and she realized the stranger wasn't in fact a stranger at all. Both raised their guns immediately. "You- You're Lena Luthor," Kara said dumbly.

"And you're a Deb," Lena grit out. They stayed standing there, facing each other, guns drawn, Lena frowning, Kara staring slack-jawed, and all either could think was that, really, the other had no right to be that devastatingly pretty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyone want more of this? was intended as a one-shot, but I had so much fun writing it that I might continue if people are interested


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of chapter 1. Kara and Lena talk. Lena gets away. She might not let Kara get away though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> back by popular demand! I seriously did not expect this many people to want more. love you guys <3

"You have the right to remain silent," Kara finally said when she was able to pick her jaw up off the floor.

"You're reading me my rights?" Lena asked incredulously.

"Anything you say can and will be used against you," Kara continued. But then she paused, thought for a moment, and changed her mind. "Ok, here's the thing."

"Yeah?" Lena was definitely interested now.

"I am really not up for dying today." Because even with superpowers, Kara knew that if the rumors about the Luthors stockpiling caches of kryptonite were true, Lena could definitely give "Supergirl" a run for her money.

"Me neither." While Lena didn't yet know about Kara's specific abilities, she definitely knew about the D.E.B.S. and their longstanding partnership with Superman, so she knew that any encounter with a Deb was risky for her.

"So I was thinking, why don't you put your gun down?" Kara suggested.

"You put your gun down," Lena retorted, ever the stubborn one.

"You're the criminal, and I'm the cop, so I think I'm more trustworthy," Kara sassed back. 

"I was minding my own business on a blind date when you guys decided to rain shit all over me," Lena complained.

"Wait," Kara relaxed her stance, her grip on her gun coming to rest against her chest. "You were on a blind date?" She was flabbergasted.

"Whatever," Lena retorted sullenly.

"With snake tattoo girl?" Not that there was anything wrong with snake tattoos. Kara was just, for some completely unknown reason and even if it were known totally normal and not borne out of any type of personal interest whatsoever, bothered by that. She didn't seem like Lena's type. Not that Kara knew Lena's type or even cared. Great, here she was, face to face with the criminal mastermind she'd staked her entire academic carer on, and she was rambling about her type in her head. Focus Kara! "I just didn't know that you were a..." She trailed off.

"Why would you know?" Lena asked defensively.

"I wouldn't!" Kara was quick to placate. "That just really torpedos my thesis," she mumbled to herself.

"Your what?"

"My thesis. Sorry. It's just, I'm writing this term paper about you, and I have this theory, but I guess that's totally wrong now."

"You're kidding me," Lena deadpanned.

"No, really! It's for Capes and Capers: Gender Reconstruction and the Criminal Mastermind. It's a really popular class."

"Oh, come on." This was quite possibly one of the most ridiculous things to happen in Lena's entire life.

"But it's really hard because there's only anecdotal evidence about you because no one's ever actually spoken to you in person, or at least no one who's lived long enough to tell anyone. I mean, I'm here now, but even that's up in the air because you're still pointing a gun at me." Kara straightened her stance and aimed her gun back at Lena. "Not that I would want to go around telling people what you said even if I do live through this, it's just..." Kara trailed off, flustered by her rambling attempts to talk to the woman.

"Just?" Lena prompted with a chuckle.

"Nothing. Sorry. I ramble," Karra added quietly with a shake of her head. Lena for her part was completely charmed.

"I'm sorry, I never got your name." And for some reason, Lena desperately wanted it.

"Kara Danvers." As she introduced herself, Kara switched her gun to her other hand and held out her hand to shake Lena's.

"Lena Luthor." Lena did the same.

"I know," Kara said with a breathy laugh. "It's really nice to meet you." Lena could tell she meant it with complete earnestness. "You're still, you know, under arrest though," Kara said somewhat regretfully.

"Am I?" Lena challenged with one eyebrow raised (which Kara definitely did not notice or appreciate, no siree).

"Kara!" Alex's voice echoed outside the bar.

"Because you could just let me go." Lena suggested, leaning slightly forward into Kara's personal space.

"I really couldn't." Kara tried her best to look stern and in charge.

"Come on," Lena prompted seductively. "Haven't you ever done anything you're not supposed to?" Again with the eyebrow raise. Kara was starting to think she was doing it on purpose.

"Kara, where are you?!" Alex continued yelling.

"I'm over here!" Kara looked away to respond to her sister, and when she looked back, Lena had vanished. "Son of a nutcracker," she exclaimed, stomping her boot for good measure.

"Are you ok?" Alex asked as she rounded the corner to meet Kara with the boys. "We couldn't reach you."

"I'm fine," Kara reassured her sister.

"Well?" Alex prompted. "What happened?"

"She was here," Kara breathed out, still a little stunned. "Lena Luthor. She was right here and then she just-" Kara made a vague poofing gesture with her hands and continued to stare around the alley in a daze.

"Lena Luthor was not here," Alex scoffed, shaking her head.

"That's impossible," Mon-el added breathlessly.

"Yeah, if she was, you'd be dead." Winn had his head buried in his tech as he said this, hands flying over keys in an attempt to figure out what happened. Not a moment later, his head shot up. Apparently he had figured out exactly what happened. "Ok, I lied. Lena Luthor was totally here. Look." He showed his screen to Alex.

"Oh my god." Alex couldn't believe it. Winn had accessed the cop car across the street's dash cam which had recorded Lena running away from Kara as Alex and the boys approached, but the D.E.B.S. were blocked from view by the buildings on either side of the alley. Alex looked up at Kara. "Do you know what this means?"

"You're the only person ever to fight Lena Luthor and live to tell about it," Winn said in awe. They all stared at Kara who, for her part, was just as dumbstruck.

 

"Well that was a complete disaster." Lena could see Maggie was pissed as she got in the Latina's car still parked around the block from the bar.

"I know." Lena was not quite as pissed.

"I'm sorry I didn't clock them sooner." Maggie was peeling away and speeding down the street at this point. "Leave it to the D.E.B.S. You're in town less than a week, finally take a minute to yourself to go on a date, and the minute you do-" Maggie paused, staring at Lena who had a weird look on her face. "What?"

"What?" Lena asked back.

"What's your face doing?"

"My face isn't doing anything."

"Yes it is. It looks almost..." Maggie trailed off. It couldn't be... happy? Could it?

"Ok." Lena finally relented. "I- I met somebody."

"I knew it!" Maggie exclaimed triumphantly. "I mean I know the tattoos are a little much, and Roulette can come on strong sometimes, but you need someone who can keep you on your toes and-"

"No, no, no," Lena interrupted. "Sawyer. No. Roulette was a trainwreck. She oozes sex, and not in a good way." Lena was still a little put off by it now. "So, thank you for that." She wasn't actually thankful.

"I don't follow," Sawyer replied, confused at who else Lena could be talking about.

"I-" Lena stopped. Sighed. "You have to promise me you'll stay calm." Lena took on her sternest tone to stress the point.

"I'm sorry. Have we met? Maggie Sawyer," she said while extending her hand as if in a hand shake, "picture of calm, cool, and collected."

"You just," Lena sighed again. This was really becoming quite trying of a night, "you know, sometimes get intense about... things."

"Oh my god, woman, just tell me who it is." Sawyer stared at Lena, thinking. "It's not a dude, is it?"

"No! God no." Lena actually looked a bit sick just thinking of it.

"Ok, thank god. I can't really girl talk to you about a dude." Sawyer was also a little squeamish at this point.

"That's what you're worried about? GIrl talk?" Lena asked incredulously

"What? It's been a while for you and I just want to be there for you. Is that so wrong?" Maggie truly cared about Lena, despite the cold exterior. Well, both of their cold exteriors.

"No," Lena replied, touched. "That's not wrong."

"Ok then. Spill." Sawyer was getting a bit impatient. Which was not at all helped by the fact that Lena took her sweet time actually getting to the "spilling" part.

"What do you know about a Kara Danvers?" Lena asked slowly.

The car shrieked to a stop. Sawyer slowly turned to face Lena. Stared for a minute.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Lena was not, it seemed, fucking kidding her. "Blonde hair? Cute red skirt? Giant S on her chest?"

"Yeah, I guess the D.E.B.S. really have a hard-on for Superman now or something with those outfits." Lena had been a bit confused by seeing Superman's crest on just a normal Deb.

"Not those outfits. That outfit," Sawyer clarified. "She's the only one with that outfit."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Kara Danvers is not just any Deb. She's THE Deb. She's Supergirl." Sawyer could not believe Lena could do this.

"Supergirl? Is that a nickname or something? What, is she like Superman's biggest fan?" Lena joked.

"More like Superman's cousin." Lena stared blankly at Sawyer. "Like, biological cousin. Same powers, same home planet, theoretically same irrational hatred for all things Luthor... You get the picture?" Lena froze. Sawyer saw her eyes widen in recognition before she quickly shook her head, clearing it of what Sawyer's words meant.

"No." Lena got out of the car. Sawyer followed. "No," she said with a shrug like it was no big deal. (It was, in fact, a very big deal. But who ever said denial wasn't a totally healthy coping mechanism?) Lena paced back and forth in front of the car until Sawyer grabbed her shoulders to keep her in place.

"How did you even meet her with everything that was just going on in there?" she interrogated. Lena finally looked up.

"We just stumbled into each other as I was running off," Lena explained. "Talked a bit, pointed our guns at each other a bit, you know, typically meet cute stuff," she bit out sarcastically.

"That was it? How do you quote un-quote meet someone," Sawyer asked, with requisite air quotes, "with just a few seconds of pointing your gun at them?"

"We just- I don't know," Lena started, looking up at Sawyer with eyes imploring her to understand. "She just talked to me like a normal person. I would have had no idea she was Superman's cousin. She didn't have any of the same self-righteousness or arrogance he has. She wasn't blunt or cruel like he's been to the press about me. She was just a girl. A cute, rambly, somewhat awkward, completely irresistible girl, and I am so screwed," she finished, slumping against the car. Sawyer, after having patiently listened to Lena as she spoke, stared at Lena, working something out in her head.

"Get back in the car," Sawyer demanded.

"What?" Lena looked up sharply.

"I said, get in the car." Sawyer was getting exasperated.

"Why?" Lena asked, a bit defeated. Now that she knew the truth about Supergirl, there was no reason to pretend that she could think anything more of Lena than what her cousin thought.

"Because we're going to go get the girl." Sawyer was determined again.

"Maggie," Lena sighed out. "There's no point. You said so yourself. She's Superman's cousin."

"So?"

"So?" Lena snapped back, eyes wide. "That changes everything!"

"It doesn't have to."

"Oh, come on." Surely Sawyer knew better.

"I'm serious," Sawyer pressed on.

"So am I! Everything I thought was happening when we met is a lie. She wasn't being sweet and flustered. She was probably just trying to trick me into a false sense of security so she could take me into custody," Lena tried explaining.

"But she didn't. You got away," Sawyer pointed out.

"Sawyer, listen. She's a Super. I'm a Luthor. It's never going to happen." End of discussion.

"Well I say it is." Apparently that was not the end of the discussion.

"Ugh!" Lena threw her hands in the air. "Why do you have to be so difficult?"

"Because contrary to popular belief you're kind of a fucking awesome human being, Lena, and you deserve to find someone who can make you happy. Now I know you. You're not stupid. You wouldn't be fooled that easily by a cute smile a nice tits."

"Don't talk about her like that," Lena grumbled.

"See! You care about this girl!" Sawyer shot back. "Now let's go find out if she is in fact worth caring for." Sawyer stared at Lena expectantly, eyebrows up and waiting for Lena to make a move. Lena stared back before she deflated a little.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Nope," Sawyer said triumphantly.

"Fine." Lena gave up. "But I'm driving."

"Great!" Sawyer tossed Lena the keys and the two got in the car. As Lena started driving away, Sawyer added, "I'm glad you're not letting a little thing like falling for Superman's straight cousin get in the way of your happiness." The car screeched to a stop yet again.

 

When the pair finally made it to Kara's team's home base, Lena was feeling much more confident. Sawyer was an amazing hype woman and gay guru.

"Go get 'em. I'll be here when you're done," Sawyer said as Lena got out of the car.

"Ok, D.E.B.S., show me what you're made of." Lena thermal image scanned the property for the Kryptonian's slightly higher than human heat signature. When she found it, she proceeded to cut a hole through their force field with her electromagnetic raygun (hello, genius here), dodged the laser sensors and mine field in the yard (all those years Lillian made her take ballet finally coming in handy for something other than picking up women), scaled the wall with her suction gloves (more with the tech genius), and catapulted herself through Kara's window (ballet involved jumping too). "Apparently not much," she mused in a whisper. Lena approached Kara's bed, seeing her sleeping form and mentally comparing it to the picture of serenity, and then promptly berating herself for her sentimentality. She leaned over Kara and whispered in her ear, "Kara." Kara awoke with a start, the momentum flinging Lena across the room and into the wall. "Christ," she groaned at the pain.

"Oh my god!" Kara exclaimed as soon as she realized what had happened.

"I guess they weren't kidding about the Superstrength thing." Lena huffed out a laugh. Kara went to help Lena up. 

"What are you doing here?" she asked as Lena slowly stood. Kara held one of Lena's arms to keep her steady as Lena had her other hand on her lower back, still in pain.

"I wanted to see you," Lena said, regaining her confidence and straightening up.

"Me? Why?" Kara asked, still somewhat foggy from sleep.

"Well," Lena started. She hadn't thought this far ahead. She tried to keep her composure as she thought up an excuse. "I was thinking about what you were saying. About your paper."

"My thesis?" Kara clarified.

"Right, of course. It's so unfortunate you can only do limited research based on outdated resources. So I thought, why not come right to the source?"

"You mean you?" Kara asked wide-eyed. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Come out with me. I'll give you unfettered access. You can ask me anything you want." Lena tried to add just a bit of seduction to her proposition.

"I can't go out with you." Obviously.

"Why not?"

"Like, a zillion reasons." At least one of which she will totally think of very soon... very, very soon... any time now...

"Well that won't do." Lena was used to getting what she wanted. (Well, not exactly, but she was used to acting like she was used to getting what she wanted. That Luthor charm was sure something, after all.) "I didn't want to do this." She really didn't. She felt bad just making it up.

"Do what?" Kara asked, suddenly suspicious.

"My partner has a kryptonite-ray gun trained on your window." Bullshit. "She has orders to shoot if I don't leave this house with you in 10 minutes." Utter bullshit. But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

"You wouldn't," Kara gasped out. Apparently the rumors about the Luthors' cache of kryptonite was true. (It wasn't.)

"I would." (She wouldn't.) "I guess now you have to come out with me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> literally all of the spy tech was made up on the spot by me so please do not think that any of it is real or accurate by any means


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What better than a night on the town to get these ships to sail?
> 
> Supercorp and Sanvers centric

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh life is crazy my computer busted and then my car busted and now I have graduation and taking the bar to think about and time to write has been the most hard to find but I'll try to do better I promise (also I was visiting friends and family like 4 weekends in a row which didn't help either)

Alex was on edge. Well she was usually on edge, but this was different. This felt important. She had a sixth sense when it came to Kara, and it was usually right. Knowing that, Alex slipped from her bed, stalked down the stairs, and trailed Kara and some dark haired figure on their way out the door. She was just stepping down off the porch when she felt a bullet whiz past her head (which she of course dodged, being the badass agent she is).

"Alex!" Kara rushed over to her sister. "Are you ok? What are you doing here? Were you following me? Why aren't you in bed?" Her questions came flying one after the other without enough pause to let Alex answer. She did eventually pause, though.

"I could ask you the same." Alex glared at her sister. "You do realize you're sneaking out past curfew, right? What has gotten into you?"

"You don't understand," Kara pleaded with Alex. She had to try to get her back inside. She had to keep Alex out of danger. This was her problem, and she could handle it by herself.

"I believe I'm to blame for that," Lena said, stepping out of the shadows to face Alex.

"Lena Luthor," Alex grit out, stony-faced.

"It seems you have me at a disadvantage," Lena replied, maintaining her composure.

"Alex Danvers."

"Danvers?"

"Kara's sister."

"Here I thought there was only one Kryptonian on Earth. This has been an eventful night, finding out there are two more." Lena wasn't exactly happy about this development.

"Foster sister," Alex clarified. (Oh. Nevermind then.)

"You're still my sister," Kara mumbled. She didn't really want to get in between them when they were rapid fire bantering like that, but it warranted saying.

"Kara, not now," Alex said to her sister. (See? Exactly what she didn't want.)

"Can you both just stop?" Too late to avoid it now. Kara had already interrupted. She might as well follow through. "Lena and I-"

"Lena?" Alex interrupted her. "You're on a first name basis with a Luthor now?"

"Alex," Kara pleaded quietly. "She has kryptonite." Alex's eyes widened.

"And what, you thought I'd just let you slip away with a super villain who's threatening you with the only thing that can hurt you? No. Absolutely not. That's not happening."

"You're welcome to join us." The way Lena said it made clear that she wasn't exactly offering.

 

Lena was driving with Kara in her passenger seat and Alex and Maggie in the back. It was awkward. To say the least.

"So, your sister's an alien," Maggie said casually to Alex.

"Shut up," Alex said, shooting down Maggie's attempts at conversation.

"So much for small talk. Hey, if you wanna sit back here in broody silence, I am all about that. Not like tonight has been fucked up enough as it is." All Maggie got was a huff in return.

"Where are you taking us?" Kara finally asked after another prolonged silence.

"Where do you want to go?" Lena replied flirtatiously.

"Back to the base!" Alex shot up to them angrily.

"Jeez, will you relax? You've got a literal alien here on your side. I think there's a slim chance you're in any real danger with us," Maggie reasoned.

"Right, of course, silly me. Your psycho partner here threatens my sister with kryptonite which, by the way, is deadly to Kryptonians, and then proceeds to kidnap me, but my bad, of course I'm totally safe here in the back of a car being driven by a known murder!" In case it wasn't obvious, Alex was a little frustrated.

Maggie had no idea that Lena had threatened Kara with kryptonite, so when Alex said that, she lost it, throwing her head back in laughter. Alex glared at her.

"What," Alex spat out.

"I'm sorry," Maggie managed, trying to get her laughter under control. "I'm sorry, it's just-" She was wiping the tears from her eyes. "You think Lena threatened Supergirl with kryptonite? She would never. I mean, how much of an idiot do you have to be to..." She trailed off when she noticed the look Lena was giving her through the rear-view mirror. "Or maybe she did do that... Well, it's not like she meant it. Where would she even get kryptonite? Everyone knows Superman destroyed the last of it when he got all paranoid and entitled after the whole thing with Lex..." This time everyone was staring at her. "Or maybe everyone did not know that..." Kara turned to look at Lena, completely stunned. "Well, Lena does not have kryptonite, so you can rest assured that you guys are truly not in danger with us. We don't bite." Maggie side-eyed Alex. "Unless, of course, you're into that sort of thing?" She wasn't sure what made her say it. It wasn't like she was picking up any sort of sapphic vibe from the agent. In fact, quite the opposite. The firecracker sitting next to her screamed straight, what with the uptight vibe that just had to be stemming from sexual frustration. Maggie knew a thing or two about sexually frustrated straight girls. Not like she would ever make that mistake again. Oh shit, she had to shut this down. And Alex was just staring at her, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Yup, definitely straight. No falling for straight girls, Maggie! Especially a straight Deb. And definitely no thinking about her pretty eyes or what she must look like in action, all badass and bossy. Fuck, she was so screwed.

"Fine, if we're not really being kidnapped then you can let us out now," Kara whined.

Except, with all the yelling and sort-of-not-really flirting going on, Alex and Kara had failed to notice that Lena was driving them through a series of tunnels with no place to pull over. They were passing signs reading things like "DANGER," "TURN BACK NOW," and "YOUR FUNERAL." Kara tried to point them out to Lena, tried to make her stop, but the criminal mastermind wouldn't hear it and just kept driving straight into a WALL! ... Oh. No, wait. It wasn't a wall. Just a hologram made to look like a wall. They were totally fine.

Except now Lena was stopping the car, and she was getting out, and Maggie was following her, and Alex and Kara were being left alone in the car in front of what looked like an abandoned, boarded up warehouse.

"What are you doing??" Kara yelled out the window to Lena.

"I'm going in. You coming?" Lena responded, eyebrows raised for good measure. Kara just stared at her, completely baffled. Lena sighed. "Look, this is a completely remote location, and you have no idea where we are. Could you probably find your way home eventually? Sure, but do you really want to just fly around aimlessly with your sister in your arms all night long until you do?" Lena looked at Kara expectantly before giving up and heading inside. "Fine, suit yourself," she muttered under her breath.

"Password's Dollyworld if you change your mind," Maggie threw over her shoulder as she followed after Lena.

After a moment of silence, Alex got out of the car.

"Alex!" Kara wined, upset at being abandoned by her sister, of all people.

"Sorry Kar," she apologized while turning around, now walking backwards toward the door she'd just seen Lena and Sawyer walk through. "But if we're going to be stuck out here for a while, I am definitely not doing it without a drink." Kara thought she had a point. Leave it to Alex to pick out where there was going to be alcohol. If it would do anything at all to her, Kara knew she'd probably want to be drinking right now too. She huffed to herself once more and finally got out of the car. When she caught up with Alex at the door, Alex knocked. The Judas door slid opened, and a giant face appeared.

"Password?" the face asked.

"Dollyworld," Alex supplied. The door flung open and the sisters were allowed through, finding the abandoned warehouse to actually be a dive bar, complete with pool tables, dart boards, Dolly Parton crooning from the jukebox, surly bartenders, and wasted regulars.

Alex was in heaven.

That is, until she realized something about the regulars. The vast majority were aliens. Blue ones and green ones, ones with lizard-like eyes and ones with elf-like ears. Alex went straight for her gun, but felt a hand around her wrist stop her.

"Easy there, Danvers," Maggie said, trying to calm Alex down.

"Where the hell did you bring us?" Alex demanded.

"Woah, take a deep breath. It's just a bar. A safe haven of sorts," Maggie attempted to explain. Alex wasn't convinced yet though.

"You let a Luthor and a Deb walk into an alien bar??" she practically growled. Alex didn't believe for a second that Maggie was this stupid. From the second she saw her file that morning, she knew there was something about the tiny Latina. Surely she was smarter than this.

"Don't be a Deb for just a second. Look around. Not everyone here is an off-worlder. This bar is just a place where everyone, no matter where you're from or who you are, can feel free, peaceful, not so alone for a night. I think a Luthor and a Deb are exactly the types of people who need a place like this every now and again." Alex looked at Maggie thoughtfully. Maybe she was right before. There was definitely something. Maggie shook off the intensity of the moment and changed the subject. "Beer, Danvers?" Alex nodded and grabbed a table while Maggie turned to the bartender walking past them. "Darla, 2 beers?" The bartender, Darla, turned to Maggie then Alex, giving the latter a once-over.

"You moved on fast," she said, turning back to Maggie before walking off to get them their drinks.

"That bartender," Alex said, looking after Darla. "Is she a roldekon?"

"Yes, she is," Maggie answered.

"I've heard they can form telepathic connections by making physical contact with the dorsum of the tongue," she whispered over their table.

"How do you think she learned English?" Maggie sassed. "She's an ex." She looked almost smug about out. Alex just looked a little taken aback.

"Oh. OH." Alex looked back at Darla again. "Ok, wow," she mused to herself. Her interest in this new information was purely scientific, of course.

"I don't strictly date aliens, for the record. Though I do tend to like them more than most people." Maggie wasn't totally sure why she was supplying this information. There was just something about Alex that made her feel like opening up.

"Why?" Alex asked, looking at Maggie thoughtfully.

"I can relate to them, I guess. Growing up non-white, non-straight in Blue Springs, Nebraska? I might as well have been from Mars," Maggie explained.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with Martians." Alex felt the need to defend her Space Dad. "Well, the green ones, at least," she added as an afterthought. Maggie laughed.

"I just mean that I was an outcast, and I definitely felt like one. Most aliens are the same. A lot of them are hard-working immigrants or refugees just trying to get by. They have to hide who they are to survive. I can sympathize with that. I mean, tell me, if your sister or the Martian you know went about their day showing the world who they truly are, do you think the world would just be fine with that?" Alex shook her head. She understood exactly where Maggie was coming from.

"No, I know. It's just hard, when you're trained to assess aliens as threats, to just turn that off," Alex explained, trying to defend her earlier reaction.

"Plus it's not like the fake kidnapping made it any easier on you," Maggie agreed with a smile on her face and laughter in her voice. "Come on, Danvers, how about I kick your ass at pool?" Maggie suggested in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"You wish, Sawyer," Alex shot back, fully on board and actually starting to enjoy herself.

 

Meanwhile, Kara had stiffly followed Lena as she glided effortlessly through the bar. She even made sitting in a run-down booth look like posing for a magazine shoot. Kara was jealous. She never felt that she looked graceful. Even with all her powers and all her years here, she still wasn't totally used to holding herself on this planet. The different gravity, increased speed, immense strength, and impenetrability all made just existing take conscious effort. The control she had to exert at all times made Kara appear awkward at times. Lena, on the other hand, Kara thought Lena had probably never looked or felt awkward a day in her life.

She was wrong, of course. Lena needed this place just as much as any other alien, after all.

Lena flagged down a bartender and asked for a martini for herself and "a water for Supergirl here."

"So I believe I promised you an interview," Lena said, finally breaking the silence that had been mounting between them. Kara just huffed and looked away to check on her sister. She was staring at Maggie with a weird look on her face, but otherwise looked fine. "I know you're just dying to ask me a whole host of questions. Come on, ask me," Lena tempted. When she got nowhere, she changed tactics. "Ok, if you don't want to talk about me, let's talk about you. Tell me about your thesis."

"It's stupid." Kara tried to play it off, looking skeptically at Lena across the table.

"I highly doubt that," Lena challenged.

"Well, I guess my central hypothesis is that, as a woman in a male-dominated field, you've had to work twice as hard to get half the recognition, be twice as ruthless-"

"I am not ruthless," Lena interrupted. But Kara hardly seemed to notice. Once she got going, she was on a roll and continued with her explanation.

"-and that your family situation, being adopted by parents who never truly loved you-" Kara hesitated when saying that part. "-and having a brother who arguably did love you but then was driven to madness and tried to kill you-"

"Well, at least you're giving credit to Superman for driving him insane," Lena threw in resignedly, once again hardly even slowing Kara down.

"-created an emotional void in your life where you turned to crime as a way to seek out your family's love and approval by pursuing the life they had, but being exponentially more diabolical and ruthless as a way to prove your worth both to them and apart from them, and until you receive that approval, you won't be capable of receiving love from anyone else." By the time Kara had finished her explanation, she had slowed town and become much less confident in her theory.

"Wow," Lena breathed out, shocked. "Well, it seems like you have me all figured out." She was defensive and angry now.

"It's just a theory," Kara muttered self-consciously.

"I don't know what you think you know about me, or love for that matter-"

"Nothing!" Kara yelled, cutting her off. She was wide-eyed and waving her hands to try to placate Lena. "I just broke up with my boyfriend, like, 5 hours ago and I'm not even really sure why."

"I'm sorry about that," Lena said softly, already forgiving the girl across from her.

"Don't be. I'm not. It was for the best." Kara seemed sincere

"Really?" Lena prodded.

"Really. James was fine. Great, even. So handsome and supportive and sweet-" Kara even had little stars in her eyes as she talked about her ex.

"He sounds like the perfect guy," Lena interrupted.

"He is. Just, maybe not for me," she said resignedly.

"No?" Lena asked, intrigued.

"I dunno, he wasn't- I just- I think love should be irresistible. Like a drug. Not that I would know what drugs feel like since, duh, but still. I think, when it happens, you shouldn't be able to help yourself. Like in all those rom-coms. It's just inevitable. You're drawn together and there's nothing you can do to stop it. I just, I dunno, I wanted..." She trailed off in thought.

"More?" Lena supplied after a moment.

"Yeah," Kara agreed, eyes lighting up as she realized that maybe Lena knew exactly what she was talking about. Then she remembered herself. "And I'm babbling again. Sorry." This was seriously so embarrassing.

"No, don't apologize. You weren't. At all." Lena was adamant.

"This is just so weird," Kara said with an exasperated huff.

"What is?" Lena inquired.

"You and me, sitting here in a bar, talking about love. I mean, why aren't you trying to kill me?" Kara asked.

"I don't really get off on that," Lena replied suggestively, making Kara blush. "Besides, why aren't you trying to kill me? It would probably take much less effort," she shot back.

"I don't kill people. Ever," Kara said with determination and steel in her eyes. It was one of the other things that was forever setting her apart from everyone else in her life. "But wait," she said looking up and pointing a finger at Lena. "You killed those agents in Antarctica. Are you telling me you-" God, she couldn't even say it without red tinging her neck and ears. "-got off on that?" Lena barked out a laugh at that.

"Are you kidding me? I never even met them. They died of hypothermia or something. That wasn't me," Lena explained.

"The operation in Peru?" Kara asked again.

"Ebola," Lena supplied.

"The plane you shot down over the pacific," Kara shot out, thinking she finally had her with this one.

"I'm pretty sure a seagull flew into their engine. I wish I could take credit though. The explosion created some beautiful fireworks over the island I was staying on which made for quite the romantic setting." Not that Lena had been in any sort of romantic situation, but flustering Kara was just too irresistible.

"You are so not what I was expecting," Kara finally let out.

"What were you expecting?" Lena asked curiously.

"A Luthor," Kara responded matter-of-factly, her eyes wide and honest.

"Well, I think that's a good thing." Lena could only hope. She got a beautiful, infectious smile in return.

"So what was the deal with Roulette?" Kara asked, changing the subject and effectively ending the mounting sexual tension. No, not sexual. Just tension. Normal, enemy-like tension.

"Oh god," Lena said, laughing. "I don't even know." She shook her head and looked adoringly at Kara. Not that she would ever in a million years admit to the adoringly part.

"Where do you even meet someone like that?" Kara was laughing now too and thinking maybe a night out with THE Lena Luthor wasn't so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case it's not clear, I'm kinda writing the D.E.B.S. like the DEO, so they take care of both alien threats and threats to aliens, hence both going after the Luthors and Alex being super uncomfortable in the Dolly Parton bar
> 
> also I totally googled what the password slot in speakeasy doors are called, and one thing said it was a Judas door, which sounded like so cool, so that's what I used


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night doesn't end exactly as Lena was hoping.
> 
> #danverssisterforever

"Wait, I don't get a chance to win my money back?" Maggie complained indignantly as Alex walked off to the bar with her $20. They were still in the Dolly Parton bar and had been playing pool well into the night as Kara and Lena sat on the opposite side of the room deep in conversation and completely ignoring the rest of the world.

"The way you play? We'd be here all week," Alex shot over her shoulder with a laugh. "2 more, please," she called to the bartender.

"Correct me if I'm wrong-" Maggie started, sliding up beside Alex to rest her elbows on the bar, "-but you sister appears to be flirting with my friend over their." Maggie pointed with a nod of her head to the two in the booth across the bar.

"Friend? I thought Lena was your boss?" Alex asked, confused.

"Well, yeah, sort of. We're more like partners, though. Not those kind of partners," Maggie added at Alex's suggestive look.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter, Kara's not like that." Alex shrugged it off.

"Not like what?" Maggie prodded.

"Well, not like... you," Alex finally supplied with difficulty.

"Not like me?" Maggie asked incredulously, eyebrows raised in a challenge.

"Ugh, that's not what I meant. She has a boyfriend. Had. She had a boyfriend," Alex explained.

"So? That doesn't necessarily mean anything," Maggie argued.

"Trust me, Sawyer, Kara's not into it." Alex didn't even have to spare them a glance to know that she was right about this. She knew her sister better than anyone else. She would know if she were into women. Especially since- nope. Not going there. Absolutely not.

"Fine. I guess you would know." Maggie relented. "I still insist on a rematch, though."

"Whatever, Sawyer." Alex's tone suggested she was frustrated, but Maggie could see the smile pulling at the corner of her lips. "You're buying the next round when you lose."

 

"James just, I don't know, he always thought he knew better than me. Like I'm some weak little thing that needs his help. I just feel like he didn't really respect or trust me, you know?" Kara paused. She and Lena had been talking about love and life and relationships for a while now. She looked at Lena thoughtfully and softly asked, "Do you ever feel like nobody understands you?"

"All the time," Lena responded truthfully. "Though I guess that's bound to happen when the whole world views you as a supervillian along with your family," she added with some bite.

"What do you mean? Aren't you a supervillian along with your family?" Kara asked with an awkward laugh.

"I wasn't always a Luthor. I was adopted when I was four," Lena started to explain, speaking softly as if the words were lodged in her throat. "The person who made me feel most welcome in the family was Lex. He made me proud to be a Luthor." Lena paused, a bitter smirk on her face. "And then he went on his reign of terror in Metropolis," she spat out, turning away from Kara's intent eyes, the painful memories too hard on their own without having to face the understanding look gracing Kara's features, "declared war on Superman with our father, committed unspeakable crimes along with the rest of the Luthor family." Lena turned back to Kara, composed mask back in place. "When Superman killed Lex and Lionel, I vowed I wouldn't follow down their path. I'm just a woman trying to make a life for herself outside of her family. Not many understand that."

"I do." And Kara did. After the attack from Non and Astra, finding out about her mother imprisoning her aunt, finding out about her father's hand in the Medusa virus, and the kills made by her sister and her cousin, Kara was the first person to agree that one's family didn't always determine one's fate.

"Says Superman's cousin," Lena shot back with a wry smile.

"Exactly! Everyone knows me as Superman's cousin! Like I'm supposed to be just like him, the postergirl of D.E.B.S." Kara was on a roll now. "Well, what if I don't want that? What if I want to make a name for myself in my own right? Every success I have is measured against his. Every mistake I make, people compare me to him. It's like no matter what I want or what I do, I'll always just be Superman's cousin," she finished with a defeated sigh.

"I know exactly how you feel. I've destroyed all the Luthor holds of kryptonite, yet you and your sister were so quick to jump to the conclusion that I had some to use against you."

"Ok, well, to be fair, you did tell me you had kryptonite to use against me so..." Kara pointed out, not letting Lena off the hook on that one.

"Most people won't touch a Luthor with a ten-foot pole. I have to make the name work to my advantage sometimes," Lena argued sardonically. Kara had nothing to say to that. She let out a huff of laughter. Lena's sarcastic smile remained on her face, slowly morphing into a softer one. After a lengthy pause, the two women just looking at one another, each appraising a person their families had long told them should be their sworn enemy, Kara finally spoke.

"I'm really glad I met you," Kara admitted with a shy smile.

"I'm really glad I met you too," Lena assured her. They locked eyes for what felt like an eternity, blue eyes gazing into green. Lena bit her lip. Kara felt herself leaning slightly forward into Lena's space. It was a perfect moment, until-

"SUCK IT, SAWYER!"

Kara and Lena were blasted out of their reverie by Alex's victory shout across the bar.

"We- I should- I should go." Kara was flustered with what was definitely not about to happen. She stood up from the booth

"Okay," Lena said following, confused about Kara's sudden change. She couldn't let that be it though. "I hope this isn't the last time we speak, Supergirl." Kara froze and turned back to Lena with a vulnerable look on her face.

"I hope not either," Kara replied earnestly. Then she remembered herself again. "But I mean, I'm breaking like 8 federal statutes just being here with you right now-"

"Yes, I know." Lena attempted to curb the impending rambling. Not that it worked.

"-I could get kicked out of the D.E.B.S. for this-"

"Kara," she tried again.

"-I don't know what I was thinking, I mean, you're a Luthor, and still a criminal-" She seemed far more upset about the latter, for what it was worth.

"Kar, can we please call it a night? Beating Sawyer here at pool is starting to get boring." Alex sauntered over to them with Maggie in tow when she saw Kara stand up and start an infamous ramble. Sure, she was having a good time with the tiny criminal, but it's not like she was ready to run off from the D.E.B.S. or anything just to keep the night going. That was crazy.

"Take me home," Kara demanded of Lena, having made up her mind.

"Hey, it's ok." Lena tried to calm Kara, placing her hand on the superhero's arm, but Kara pulled away.

"Take me home, Lena." She was determined, so Lena had no choice but to relent.

 

Lena stopped the car on the street about a block away from the D.E.B.S. home base, at Alex's insistence of course. Just to ensure no one saw them associating with wanted felons.

"Kara," Lena called after her as she got out of the car and stomped petulantly down the street in the direction of home. Alex and Maggie remained in the back seat, silently staring at their shoes.

"So," Maggie started,

"So."

"I guess this is it, Danvers." Maggie wasn't exactly happy about that prospect.

"Guess so." Alex, for her part, was equally uncomfortable with the thought of this being goodbye.

"You know, if you ever need someone to beat at pool, you know where to find me." She trusted the agent had figured out where they'd been on their way back to the D.E.B.S. base. She sure spent enough effort staring out the window and resolutely avoiding making eye contact with Maggie. Alex finally looked up at that.

"You sure you can afford it?" Alex asked with a smirk.

"We've got some irons in the fire," Maggie reassured.

"No, don't tell me," Alex exclaimed, warding Maggie off.

"Nothing like that, Agent," Maggie laughed out. "You know, we do actually have legitimate business interests. Or do your files not mention that either?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Maybe our files aren't as extensive as I thought." Alex was full-on smiling at this point.

"See you around, Danvers," Maggie finally said in farewell.

"Sawyer," Alex tossed out as she left the car and went to sidle up to her sister, who had been having a much more tense conversation with the Luthor.

 

"What?" Kara bit out after Lena called her name, spinning around to face the brunette.

"When can I see you again?" Lena asked, feeling more vulnerable than she had in a long time.

"You can't," Kara whispered reluctantly.

"Come on," Lena scoffed.

"I'm serious. We can't do this again." Kara's eyes pleaded with her to understand, to let it go.

"I'm not my family," Lena defensively bit out. She should have known. Everyone always looked at a Luthor the same. No matter what she did to try to convince people she was just trying to make her own way in the world, to get out from the shadow of her family name, people would never believe she could be different. She shouldn't have expected better of a Deb, of all people. She was only bound to get disappointed.

"I know that," Kara promised. "I do. You're not- You're different. I know that." And Kara did. In the hours that she and Lena had just spent talking long into the night, she had seen Lena for who she was, a woman just like any other, with her own real dreams and desires and darkness, a woman just like herself. Maybe more like herself than she was ready to admit. "But we can't-"

"But maybe you're just like yours," Lena choked out, effectively cutting Kara off. Kara stared at her wide-eyed, the hurt clearly on display on her face.

"You don't mean that," Kara tried to convince herself and Lena. She loved her cousin, she did. But she still couldn't forgive him for giving up on his friend and resorting to killing both him and his father all those years ago. "Lena," she pleaded.

"I should go." Lena turned around and stalked back to her car, sliding into the passenger seat. Kara stared helplessly after her as Alex came to stand beside her. She watched Lena get in her car and drive away, possibly forever. She couldn't quite grasp why that bothered her so much.

"Interesting night," Alex mused as the two sisters watched the car drive away.

"Yeah," Kara breathed, still in shock at the sharp turn of events.

"Come on, Supergirl," Alex said, nudging the superhero. "Let's head inside and get some sleep."

"Yeah," Kara let out again, blindly following Alex down the street and through their front door.

 

Kara couldn't sleep. Sure, it was already close to 4 in the morning, and sure, their day had been ridiculously long and tiring, but for some reason, sleep was being an elusive b- bad person. Yeah. Lucky for her, when she crawled into her sister's bed in the room over, she discovered that Alex was having a similar problem.

"Mmh, hey Kar," Alex mumbled as she readjusted, making room for Kara to snuggle up to her like they always did when one of them, or both of them in this instance, were having trouble sleeping.

"Do you think I'm like Kal?" Kara asked, voice small and tentative. It had been bugging her all night. Among other things.

"What do you mean?" Obviously they were at least a little similar, being of the same species and all.

"I don't know. Nevermind," she mumbled, burying her face in Alex's neck. Kara felt frustrated that she couldn't put how she was feeling into words.

"Kara, look at me." She did. "What's going on?" Alex had been struggling with some thoughts and feelings of her own that night, but this seemed... more, somehow.

"Just something Lena said-"

"What are doing letting a Luthor get into your head?" Alex asked, cutting her off.

"Just forget about it," Kara huffed, embarrassed.

"No, Kara, I'm sorry. Talk to me," Alex apologized.

"I don't- I'm not- Ugh!" Kara let out a frustrated groan. She wasn't sure what all she was thinking, feeling. She was angry at herself for falling into a Luthor's trap when she knew it was something her cousin would never let happen. But at the same time, she didn't think Lena was dangerous like her family. And she was angry at herself again for letting Lena think she did. And she was confused as to why she cared so much what Lena thought of her in the first place. So instead of going down that rabbit hole of feelings and confusion, she went with something else. "Did you ever want to do anything other than this?" she finally asked.

"Other than be a Deb?" Alex clarified.

"Yeah," Kara confirmed in a small voice.

"Well, yeah. Obviously. I didn't even know this was an option before J'onn found me. You know that," Alex explained, trying to be patient and understanding. When Kara saved Alex from her plane almost crashing and came out as Supergirl, Alex was finally able to tell her about how J'onn came and bailed her out of jail and gave her a greater purpose than being a college dropout at age 19, which was where her life was headed at the time. "I wanted to be a scientist," she continued in a softer voice, "or a doctor. Or both. But life had other plans."

"You mean your penchant for alcohol because you had to take care of an alien sister who got your dad killed had other plans," Kara interrupted bitterly.

"No, hey." Alex tried to get Kara to look at her. "None of those things are your fault, OK?" Kara agreed with a small nod, still not believing her sister. "Look, did I always have dreams of being a badass, alien-fighting, secret agent? No. Mostly because I never believed I'd be capable of such a thing."

"Alex! You can do anything," Kara stressed, refusing to let her sister believe she was anything other than her personal hero and the single greatest person on the planet- no, universe.

"Shh. I know. I'm awesome," Alex joked, trying to cheer Kara up. She knew it worked by the small, shy smile on her sister's face. "But I love my job. I get to be a doctor and a scientist and a badass, alien-fighting, secret agent all at the same time. I'm living the fucking dream. OK?" she finished, checking in.

"OK," Kara finally agreed. Alex wasn't convinced that worry over Alex's choice of career was all there was to Kara's inability to sleep, however.

"Something tells me my happiness with the D.E.B.S. isn't what's really on your mind though," Alex urged her.

"I love being Supergirl. I do. It's something I've always wanted, ever since I realized Kal-El didn't need me anymore, and I had to find a new purpose. But sometimes- I don't know..." Kara trailed off, still not entirely sure she wanted to talk to Alex about this.

"You want more?" Alex asked, trying to get Kara to open up more.

"Not more, necessarily. Just, something else? Too? Sometimes I just feel so removed from the people I'm helping," Kara finished, feeling defeated.

"Look, Kara, if you want to do something outside of the D.E.B.S., you know I'll support you. It's not like I ever wanted you involved in this in the first place." At that, Kara let out a dry huff of laughter, knowing full well how Alex felt about her being out there as Supergirl. "I'm with you, OK? No matter what."

"It's just, I feel like I haven't been part of the world! Kal is still a reporter, you got your Phd and medical degree, and I- I'm- what? I was about to graduate high school, came to visit you to see if I wanted to go to National City University, saved your plane from crashing, and that was it. The D.E.B.S. recruited me, Kal convinced me working together was what our parents would have wanted, and I became a full-time D.E.B.S. agent. My future was set. I'm not qualified to go do anything else even if I wanted to," Kara finished her rant with a pout.

"And what would you want to do?" Alex wasn't letting her off that easily.

"I don't know. I was thinking..." Kara hesitated. Looking up at Alex's face and seeing only love and support reflected back at her, she finally continued. "Art school?" She phrased it like a question, ever seeking approval from her older sister.

"Art school sounds amazing," Alex assured her. She had complete faith in her sister and knew she'd be amazing at whatever she wanted to do.

"Yeah?" Kara barely voiced the question, still so unsure of herself.

"Yeah," Alex vowed, a proud smile on her face.

"Well, maybe someday," Kara agreed, pulling Alex down with her and snuggling in.

"Definitely someday," Alex corrected her. With that last sentiment, the Danvers sisters felt at peace enough to finally fall asleep. Sometime between four and five in the morning, both assured the other had their backs always, they left their confusing feelings about their earlier encounter with the D.E.B.S. most wanted criminals to deal with another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the more I think about the plot of this fic the more I think it’s going to go on forever cuz there’s so much I want to add that wasn’t in the movie, so props to those of you along for the ride with me on this crazy journey of my first long fic ever (or long anything for that matter).
> 
> which, on that note, please please tell me if there are things you want to see here. I usually only exist in this fandom as a beta and can use all the help I can get on the creativity front. message me with prompts or ideas for this fic at thescreamingbisexual (my fandom-only tumblr) or imjustakoalabear (my personal tumblr)
> 
> also, now that Mon-Ew has devolved into ultimate douche-baggery (as opposed to just the annoying, lovable, baby brother he started out as) I’m kinda wishing I’d put him as the asshole ex-boyfriend instead of James and made James another deb. I truly do like James as a character, and I absolutely hate Mon-Hell as Kara’s boyfriend because he is so manipulative and emotionally abusive, but whatevs. it’s not like I’m gonna go back and re-write this whole thing. so just imagine that there’s another universe with another version of this fic in which Mayo gets the ass whooping he deserves as Kara’s ex, and hopefully I can write this without giving James too much shit. #justiceforjames #throwmonelintospace


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last night starts to have consequences...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some more pairings come out to play in this one!
> 
> shorter chapter today, but finals weeks are starting and I wanted to go ahead and get something up to tide everyone over

Maggie watched from the passenger seat after Kara and Alex left as Lena stalked back to the car, got inside, slammed the door closed, and sped off into the night, tires screeching against the asphalt. She seemed... tense, to put it mildly.

"So, those Danvers sisters are fun," Maggie started, but she was interrupted by a scoff from Lena.

"Too bad I'm never going to see them again," Lena said tersely.

"Wait, what?" Maggie was shocked. "I thought it was going so well! You and Kara seemed to be getting along."

"Seemed being the operative word," Lena dryly replied.

"Ok, what happened?" Maggie demanded. Lena had seemed so sure of her feelings for Kara earlier in the night, and Maggie couldn't fathom how she'd done a complete 180 so quickly. So Lena explained Kara's hesitation as they dropped off the Danvers sisters.

"She thinks I'm just another Luthor. She never wants to see me again," Lena finished, completely despondent.

"Did she actually say that?" Maggie asked, seeking clarification. She loved Lena like a sister, but sometimes the girl could be a bit... dramatic. She would say emo, but Lena vehemently maintained it was a punk phase, not an emo phase, she went through when she was younger.

"She said there could never be a repeat of tonight," Lena answered, blank mask of unfeeling firmly in place.

"Well, I mean, she is a federal agent, and they did have some bad information making them think we actually are evil criminal masterminds. This isn't exactly an easy situation for her to be in. I'm sure it has nothing to do with your last name, Lena. Those two didn't seem like the types to judge someone based on their family," Maggie tried to reason. She was trying to convince herself of that too. She desperately hoped she'd see the badass older sister again, but wouldn't let herself admit she had the same feelings for her as Lena did for Little Danvers. Lena didn't reply or acknowledge Maggie's reasoning. She was deep in thought as she kept driving back toward their building of operations. "Just, don't give up on her so easily," Maggie tried one last time, hand on her friend's shoulder in an attempt to be comforting. But Lena remains silent the rest of the ride home, entering the building in silence with Maggie following behind her. The only words she utters the rest of the night are a greeting to her assistant Jess as they pass her inside, reminding her to get some sleep before she and Maggie part ways to their respective quarters.

 

"So, is it true?" Vasquez asked casually, spinning around in her chair as Kara and Alex entered the DEO.

"Is what true?" Kara questioned her.

"Did you fight Lucy Diamond?" Lucy clarified, leaning on the console next to Vasquez. She leaned forward with an excited look on her face. "I heard you cut off her hand. Does she still have her hand?"

"Everyone still has all their hands!" Alex jumped in, completely over the juvenile questioning. "God," she groaned in exasperation.

"Well, everyone is talking about it," Lucy said defensively, turning back around to Vasquez.

"About what?" Kara asked again.

"How you met Lena Luthor and lived to tell about it," Vasquez explained matter-of-factly.

"Ms. Grant wants to see you," J'onn bellowed as he entered the room.

"What?" Kara squeaked. "J'onn," she said, trying to get his attention as he stalked toward the control panel next to Vasquez.

"What's going on?" Alex asked.

"Ms. Grant," Vasquez repeated.

"She's coming down," Lucy clarified.

"Here? Why?" Kara's voice continued to squeak.

"She never comes here." Alex was confused, but as soon as she saw Ms. Grant's hologram appear, accompanied by her bitch of an assistant, Siobhan, she snapped straight into professional agent mode. "Ms. Grant," she addressed her.

"Scully," Cat growled in response. "Step aside please," she said, shooing Alex out of her way and approaching Kara. "Ah, Kiera." Alex visibly tensed at her calling Kara the wrong name, but Kara was already far to tense to notice the rude acknowledgement. "When I heard that Supergirl actually engaged Lena Luthor and lived to tell the tale... I mean, Fred over in Central Intelligence nearly peed his pants, he was so jealous. This stunt is really going to put the organization on the map. Shelly here," she continued, a hand waving in Siobhan's direction, "told me Lisa from Interpol even called to extend her congratulations."

"It's Siobhan," Siobhan interrupted bitterly. She received a world-class glare from Cat for her troubles.

"Anyway," Cat said pointedly, "you'll need to debrief with Director Baby Lane about the whole encounter."

"You and my sister thinking about having babies already?" Lucy sassed at hearing the nickname. "And here I thought she would never settle down." Vasquez snorted a laugh at her girlfriend's antics, Kara let out another squeak at the prospect of having to talk about Lena, and Alex continued to scowl.

"I'm sure the world can only handle one baby in the Lane family, and trust me, you've more than earned the title," Cat immediately retorted. "Now, Shannon, where was I?" she asked, turning to Siobhan.

"It's Siobhan," Siobhan replied defiantly. When she was met only with Cat's icy glare in acknowledgment, she sighed defeatedly and dutifully responded to Cat's inquiry. "Supergirl's debrief."

"Ah, yes. Be sure to tell Baby Lane every detail of the encounter, no matter how small or seemingly irrelevant."

"Why should she be wasting time on irrelevant details?" Alex asked, trying to have her sister's back. And if it protected her own interests in the D.E.B.S. not finding out about her time with Maggie, that was just a convenient coincidence.

"To build a profile of course," Cat pointed out like it was the most obvious thing in the world and Alex was an insipid fool for not realizing. "Nobody has ever been this close to Lena Luthor before." She directed her next statement at Kara with bright, excited eyes. "You, Keira, for all intents and purposes, are our leading expert."

"I don't think I'm an expert at all," Kara protested meekly, eyes cast down.

"You underestimate yourself," Cat assured her almost warmly. "I took the liberty of accessing your private file."

"What?!" Kara cried out, head snapping up and eyes blown wide in shock.

"It's a Man's World: Lena Luthor and the Psychology of Gender in Criminology," Cat started, reading from a file she had snatched out of Siobhan's hands.

"Oh, god," Kara despaired, hands going to cradle her shaking head.

"Lena Luthor is at once a narcissistic sociopath and a victimized girl-child eternally searching for the love of her family," Cat continued reading. "Her participation in her family's criminal empire could be viewed as a cry for help. The deeper she slides into their criminal acts, the deeper her feeling of emptiness. Now Keira," Cat said, looking up from the file in her hands. "I think you identify with Lena Luthor. I think she sees your pathos. Both younger family members of two men with such a bold and impactful history." Kara didn't bother mentioning for the upteenth time that she was actually older than her cousin. "You've got some dangerous symbiosis going on. What's that movie I convinced Jodie to do with that insufferable dog and the well?" Cat asked, looking to Siobhan.

"Silence of the Lambs."

"Right, Sharon."

"Siobhan."

"Keira, you're the lamb. We can use that to our advantage. Tracking down and arresting Lena Luthor is now the D.E.B.S.'s top priority," Cat finished, her tone leaving nothing to debate.

"Are you sure that's the best idea?" Alex asked hesitantly. She knew the D.E.B.S. viewed Lena Luthor as a dangerous threat, but she wasn't the only one they were facing. M'gann had just gone back to Mars to continue the resistance, and J'onn of course was committed to aiding her in any way he could and ensuring he came back to him safely. (Long distance relationships were hard.) Cadmus had resurfaced even with Lillian Luthor in jail and had been running alien weaponry which had been wreaking havoc on National City, causing riots with the increased anti-alien sentiment. Magneto was still at large and had said something to suggest that Alex's father was still alive and being held by Cadmus. Surely those should take precedent over one lowly Luthor, especially now that Alex was starting to believe that she wasn't actually involved in any criminal activity anymore. Or ever. At Cat's unimpressed glare, Alex continued with, "I just mean, if Kara," stressing her sister's actual name, "really does have this priceless connection with Lena Luthor that you spoke of, then surely she, with my help as squad captain, can handle bringing her in," Alex implored.

"Scully, there's a killer on the loose. This is no time for egos. This is not the girl scouts. This is espionage! We have the chance to do something great here, and I will not let your misguided belief that you are capable of 'handling this' on your own jeopardize that." Throughout her attack, Cat advanced on Alex one slow step at a time until she was nose to nose with the fierce agent.

"This isn't about me," Alex countered. "This is about Supergirl and Lena Luthor - fated to be enemies - and their final showdown." For all Alex was in the field, no one could say she didn't also know her way around public perception. "Do you really want that showdown to be between Lena Luthor and a slew of black-outfitted, nameless D.E.B.S.? What would that say about your trust in Supergirl?" As Alex spoke lowly, she stalked a tight circle around the famed Cat Grant, throwing her off balance as she tried to remain in control of the situation. "You're right. Now isn't the time for egos. Now is the time to show the world what the D.E.B.S. are really made of. We have Supergirl. We should use her. Besides, wouldn't it be more impressive if, while Supergirl is taking down the last Luthor, the rest of the D.E.B.S. are taking down Cadmus and Magneto, rather than focusing all our efforts on one single criminal?"

"What if Lena Luthor _is_ Cadmus?" Cat shot back, thinking she was retaining the upper hand.

"Even more reason to launch a two-sided attack. One at Lena Luthor at the top, and one at Cadmus agents at the bottom. We'll tear them apart from both sides. If an intelligence agency thought to infiltrate and dismantle that kind of threat, they'd be lauded for decades." Alex was really throwing in the kill shot here.

There was a moment of complete silence while everyone in the room stared at Cat, waiting for her to make a decision.

"Fine, Scully. But if this goes belly-up, it's your head." With that, Cat stalked off, Siobhan trailing behind her.

Alex let out a defeated sigh. In trying to protect her sister, she inadvertently shot herself in the foot. There was pretty much no universe in which this _didn't_ go wrong if Alex was right to believe Maggie about their lack of criminal activity.

Kara was having similar thoughts. For some reason, she believed in Lena and believed that she wasn't like her family. And if anything could be said about Kara, it was that she fought for those in whom she believed. She wouldn't just hand over Lena, especially if she was innocent of the crimes for which the D.E.B.S. blamed her. She would fight for Lena. She just had to convince Alex to fight with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come scream at me at https://thescreamingbisexual.tumblr.com/ for any ideas for this fic, or thoughts about it, or if you want a beta, or if you're feeling sad, or if you ate a really good sandwich and want to tell me about it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our babies are brooding. Plans are set in motion. Things are thrown. Inspiring speeches are given. Nothing actually happens. xoxo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mad props to [canadiancop](http://archiveofourown.org/users/canadiancop/pseuds/canadiancop) ([maggiesawyering](http://maggiesawyering.tumblr.com/) on tumblr) for convincing me that writing is more fun when done with someone to yell at
> 
> sorry for the lack of dialogue in this chapter my friends

Lena had been brooding. That's all this was about. Sure, she was always kinda broody. She had some major issues, what with her fucked up family and her latest ex really screwing her over. But this wasn't normal Lena brooding. Not that Maggie could at all explain how this brooding was different if anyone asked. She just knew that this was not about whatever emotions she herself may or may not have been feeling. This was purely about Lena. That's all. She was just being a good friend.

That all would have been a lot more believable if she hadn't been at the Dolly Parton bar every night this week since meeting a certain Deb hoping she might show up. She never did, of course. Which was why Maggie absolutely did not go the bar hoping anyone would show up. She just went because it was her favorite bar and she needed to relax. Every night. Alone.

Because Lena was brooding! And she needed a plan. (Sure, ok Jan.)

Well she had one now. To bring to Lena. To stop the brooding. Lena's brooding. Not her own, because she didn't brood and was not doing anything even close to brooding because she was fine. So so absolutely fine and not completely gay for a certain redheaded agent that she couldn't stop thinking about.

Shit.

Ok, so maybe this plan was a little bit for her. But it wasn't her fault. Straight girl crushes were like kryptonite for lesbians like Maggie, and she wouldn't be a loyal gold star member without her fair share of them.

Her traumatic history of straight girl crushes was so not the point here, though. Back to the plan.

Her really great and amazing plan that could in no way blow up in her face because it may or may not be kind of incredibly illegal...

Ok, maybe she needed some help.

"Jess!"

 

One thing Jess prided herself for was knowing Lena Luthor better than anyone. One Margaret Sawyer thought she held this title, but Jess knew it was hers. So, she was not at all surprised when Maggie came to her asking for help with something to do with Lena.

She was tempted to agree with Maggie's plan on the spot. Lena had been extra glum this past week, and though Jess hadn't gotten her to truly open up about what was bothering her, she had gotten enough out of her to know that it was somehow caused by one Kara Danvers, Deb, Supergirl. So, Jess, being ever the loyal employee and friend, wanted nothing more to make Supergirl pay for it. And what better way than kidnapping her and holding her hostage as the result of criminal plot set to lure in the D.E.B.S.?

Maggie had thought it all out. They'd rob a bank, leak that it the last free Luthor who was behind it, and when the D.E.B.S. inevitably showed up, they'd kidnap Supergirl and make her and Lena work their shit out. And if Maggie had to see Supergirl's sister again in pursuit of her mission, well that was a sacrifice she would just have to make.

It wasn't a bad plan. It might actually work, provided they didn't all get arrested and Supergirl overlooked the fact that they didn't have kryptonite and no way of actually restraining her. Minor details when faced with the combined intellect and capabilities of the L-Corp team. But as she had said, Jess knew Lena, and she knew she wouldn't want to be reduced to the Luthor stereotype to make this happen. So instead, she helped nudge Maggie in a different direction.

Jess had done her research. The first thing she did when she heard Supergirl's moniker come out of Lena's mouth was Google search the shit out of her. As well as some slightly less-than-legal searching. But that's beside the point. Jess thought she knew a little bit about Supergirl too. At least, enough to know that she probably would be more amiable to their cause if they used less hostile methods of persuasion. Not that she had ever spared one kind thought for this wannabe superhero. Oh, no. She had definitely not been taken in by her open smile and innate light and general goodness like everyone else who so much as caught sight of the god-like space puppy. _Definitely_ not. Nor was she impressed by how long the blonde had lasted as Cat Grant's protégé, of course knowing of the imposing woman's reputation, being herself the confidant of an impressive and difficult woman with unparalleled intellect. No, Supergirl was just an irritating obstacle in the way of Lena's happiness, and Jess was going to remove that obstacle, even if her way of removing looked slightly less like removing and more like lovingly embracing. Not lovingly. Just... Ugh, whatever, you know what she meant. And if you don't, Jess didn't give a shit. Jess knew what she meant. And she didn't need anyone else's validation. Except maybe Lena's. Which was the only reason she changed Maggie's plan. Yeah.

 

"Fuck!" Lena threw the centrifuge against the wall of her lab, all the test tubes inside busting on impact. Curing cancer, a long time goal of hers, would have to wait another day it seemed. For some reason, this had been happening to her all week. Nothing was working the way she wanted it to, and she had lost more lab equipment to her frustrated outbursts than she could count.

See? Maggie and Jess were onto something about the whole broody Lena thing.

Lena let out a defeated sigh as she watched members of her staff scurry away in fear. She heard one mutter under his breath that at least no one had gotten a microscope thrown at their heads like last time. She pretended not to understand. Nor to see Jess shove Maggie through the door as her last employee exited.

"Heyyy, Lena. How's it going? Good? Good." Maggie looked nervous, which Lena thought was weird. Maggie was never nervous. Lena watched as she fiddled with the few test tubes that remained intact, nearly knocking one over, before she straightened and leveled Lena with a determined look. "Screw it," she muttered. "Little Luthor," she said more assertively, "babe, you gotta snap out of this."

"Out of what?" Lena asked defensively, arms crossed, chin held high, and fire in her eyes.

"This!" Maggie practically shouted, raising her arms and turning to point out to Lena the disaster of a lab in which they were standing. "Look around you. How much lab equipment have you destroyed this week? The whole staff is scared of you. Hell, even Alana won't come near you and I've never even seen that girl flinch. Jess and I are worried," she finished more softly.

"Well, you don't need to be."

"Don't we? Ever since that night with the D.E.B.S.-"

"Don't," Lena said firmly, interrupting whatever misplaced concern she was sure Maggie was going to start laying on her. "I'm fine."

"Lena, you're not fine. Kara-"

"I said _don't_ , Maggie." Lena was already barely holding it together. She knew that, the more Maggie pushed, the more likely she'd finally fall apart.

"Hey," Maggie said placatingly, hands turned upward toward Lena. "I know, ok? I know. I'm feeling the exact same way," she admitted softly. "Those Danvers sisters sure are something else, huh?" Maggie huffed out a laugh. "But for me, it's just another straight girl crush I need to get over." Yeah, not likely. "For you? Fuck, Lena. You know I don't believe in all that mushy true love crap, but I saw the way you two looked at each other that night." Lena turned away as Maggie talked, head turned down and shoulders slumped. "You guys have something real," Maggie continued earnestly. "It's not going to be easy. Hell, you two have more issues than the Daily Planet." For her effort, she heard Lena let out a wet laugh. "But a Super and a Luthor? Lena, that could be epic. And since when did Lena Luthor turn down the chance to achieve something epic?" Maggie waited silently for Lena to consider her words. Finally, Lena turned back around and squared her shoulders as she looked into Maggie's imploring eyes.

"What did you have in mind?"

 

It had been a week and they had gotten nowhere.

No, that's not entirely true. Now that the D.E.B.S. had refocused their efforts on Cadmus, they had done a great job of apprehending low-level Cadmus agents and thwarting their plans of minor terrorist attacks. They even thought they were close to finding Metallo.

It was Kara and Alex that had gotten nowhere. The had access to all the files of the top intelligence agencies in the world - FBI, CIA, Interpol, MI6, even NSA - in addition to their own, and yet everything they found corroborated the story that Lena Luthor was evil: complacent in her family's criminal schemes and mastermind of her own laundry list of thefts, attacks, and mayhem in the years since Lex's death. She was credited as being single-handedly responsible for the 2013 assassination of the Mexican President, the 2014 bombing of a CIA black site in the Maldovi desert, the 2015 escape from Guantanamo of the three recently arrested FBI most wanted list criminals, and was even thought to have manufactured a device responsible for the massive hurricane last year that almost split Sydney off from the coast of Australia and submerged it in the ocean. And those were just the ones Kara and Alex hadn't already heard.

In short, everyone thought Lena Luthor was a bad bitch, and everyone wanted to catch her.

But catching her wasn't exactly Kara's main objective. Nor was it Alex's, though she was loathe to admit it. No, Kara and Alex were trying to find something, anything, that could prove Lena's (and by extension Maggie's) innocence. So far, the only thing maintaining their hope was the fact that none of the accusations against Lena were supported by any evidence. It was all circumstantial. Lex was involved in the drug syndicate that supported the candidate that lost the election in Mexico, so it made sense that Lena killed the winner. Lionel had a warehouse of weaponry in the Maldovi desert and visited often, so it made sense that Lena was there and bombed the black site. Lillian was friends with one of the criminals that escaped from Guantanamo, so it made sense that Lena helped him and the others escape. Meteorologists and hurricane experts had failed to predict the Sydney hurricane, and everyone knew Lena had a grudge against Australia (though no one knew why...), so it made sense she had found a way to try to destroy it. The Danvers sisters weren't exactly impressed by the investigative prowess that was on display here.

"Ugh!" Kara threw another stack of files across the room. She'd been doing that a lot. Alex would be annoyed if she didn't feel like doing the exact same thing half the time. "We're getting nowhere! We don't know where she is, we don't know what's true and what's not, we don't even know the names of anyone she's working with other than Maggie and people from her family's old operations. How is it possible that we can know what time Lex ate lunch everyday when he was alive but we don't even know if was or was not on the continent of Asia when the U.S. Secretary of State was held hostage in South Korea's US Embassy?"

"Kara, Lena Luthor is a certifiable genius while Lex was a lunatic madman who was finally taken down because he got sloppy. Lena's careful. She obviously knows what she's doing. Don't worry, we'll find her."

"You'd be more convincing if I didn't know you've barely gotten any sleep since that night in the bar." Kara was right, and Alex knew it. "You know," Kara said, her eyes lighting up mischievously, "we could go back to th-"

"No," Alex said firmly, interrupting her. "Kara, we can't. You know that. It's too dangerous." Not that that was Alex's main reason for not wanting to go back to the Dolly Parton bar with her little sister in tow.

"But-"

"We can't." Her tone told Kara there was no room for argument.

"I just..." Kara trailed off, feeling defeated.

"What is it?" When Kara didn't respond, Alex added soothingly, "You know you can talk to me."

"I know it's stupid," Kara said with a sigh, "but I just... For some reason, I had this thought that, if we could just prove they didn't do anything wrong, then I could go find her and get her to talk to me and maybe forgive me. Not that I should even care. I just can't help but to want her not to hate me."

"Oh, Kara, I'm sure she doesn't hate you. How could anyone ever hate you?" They can't is the answer. It would have been annoying how people tended to gravitate toward Kara with instant adoration if it weren't so endearing. And if Alex didn't do the exact same thing.

"You didn't see her face that night when she turned around to drive off. She looked so hurt, Alex. You know I can't stand it when someone is hurting. I just want to fix it. I want to be her friend. I don't even know why. This shouldn't be so important to me, but I-"

"Kara, you don't have to explain. You've done nothing but talk about Lena every day since you met her. 'She's so smart, Alex, and funny! How does nobody know how funny she is!'" Alex did a pretty good job of imitating her sister if you asked her, despite Kara's pout suggesting otherwise. "Trust me, I get it. You guys understood each other somehow. Even Cat could see it, and you know how much I hate agreeing with Cat." Kara laughed at that, knowing exactly how Alex felt about her mentor. "You don't have to have a reason for how you're feeling. Sometimes you meet someone, and you just connect. There's no rhyme or reason to it, you just know that they're going to have a big impact on your life." She was absolutely not talking from personal experience, no siree. "I think," Alex paused, thinking over her next words carefully, "that you and Lena's fates are intertwined somehow. And if we have to spend the next month holed up here in the D.E.B.S. base digging through Chinese intelligence written in Mandarin shorthand that you can only barely understand," Kara had a thing for languages. She was up to 24 non-Earth and 9 Earth languages and counting, "to find the truth about Lena, then that's exactly what we'll do."

Kara threw her arms around Alex, burying her face in her sister's neck. Alex was always good at pep talks.

"Thanks, Al."

"Of course, Kar."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you tell I love it when my characters are in denial? cuz I do. so so much. they are all sarcastic shits and I love them.
> 
> literally all of those crimes lena was blamed for are made up. please don't think sydney was almost obliterated by a hurricane in 2015. well, it might have been. I don't know.
> 
> I'm on [tumblr](https://thescreamingbisexual.tumblr.com/)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena executes the plan to lure Kara. Kara and Alex make a plan to close their investigation. Everyone is still pretty gay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this chapter took so long. I'm taking the bar this summer, so I basically have no life. yay!

Lena had resolutely not been researching everything she could get her hands on about Supergirl like Jess had been. She hadn't wanted the reminder of what she couldn't have. So she wasn't aware like Jess was of Supergirl's soft spot for children and animals. When Maggie told her the plan she and Jess had come up with to get Kara to speak to her again, she had almost laughed out loud. Did they really think it would be that easy to lure in the D.E.B.S.'s girl of steel? But the more she thought about it, the more she realized how perfect it was. Kara was the embodiment of all things good and pure, so why wouldn't this work?

It still took Maggie's near-constant reassurances to get Lena to actually go through with it, though. Not because she didn't think it would work, but because she didn't know what would happen when it did. What would Lena say to her? Would Kara even want to hear it? Did Lena deserve her to? Did Lena even want her to? It's not like this was some great love story. Just the... possibility of one. Was Lena really willing to go through all of this for just a possibility? For a girl who she hadn't even kissed? Who told her she couldn't see her again? Who when they met had been trying to arrest her?

The answer was a resounding yes.

So here she was, in a local park, promising an 8-year-old girl $10 for the ice cream truck up the hill if she called out for Supergirl to help her get her nonexistent cat out of the tree next to them.

Diabolical.

 

Kara was sparring with Alex when she heard it. She was frustrated and needed to punch something after being yelled at by Cat. Kara knew that Cat only pushed her because she believed in her, because she knew she could be better, because she expected her to rise to every challenge, but sometimes it was still hard to hear. Cat even threatened a visit to Pam in HR to discuss a leave of absence if Supergirl couldn't 'perform'. Kara knew Cat wouldn't actually take her off the case, but she couldn't help but feel that she was letting Cat down by not having the answers yet. Even more so by hiding the fact that the answers she was looking for were more the 'exonerate from guilt' type of answers than the 'find, fight, and win' type. She felt like she was lying to Cat, and she hated it. Kara was a terrible liar. It was one of the reasons she had almost given up on having any semblance of a normal life that she chose for herself; she knew she'd be terrible at the secret identity life. Still, she couldn't help but want it - want both the normal life and to clear Lena's name.

Those were all thoughts running through Kara's head as she dodged and jabbed in the kryptonite room with Alex. That is, until a small, high call for Supergirl broke her out of them.

"Supergirl!" Kara could hear a small girl crying out for her from miles away.

Noticing Kara's signature, superhearing head tilt, Alex stopped her advance.

"Duty calls?" she asked.

"There's a kid a few miles out. It doesn't seem to be dire," Kara said. She'd rather stick around punching her excess energy out anyway.

Alex huffed. Kara had been frustrated lately, what with how little they had found about Lena Luthor and her operation, and her verbal beat down from Cat had only added to her sister's misery. Maybe some superheroing would do Kara some good. Take her mind off things. Maker her feel useful and accomplished again.

"Could be something. You might as well check it out. We were about done here anyway," Alex reasoned, already stepping away to grab a towel to dry off with. Kara may have been powered down to her level with the kryptonite emitters, but sparring with a superpowered sister, even a slightly less superpowered one, still left Alex glistening with sweat and short of breath. And if being in such a state put an extra sway in her hips as she walked around the DEO after their sparring sessions, well, could anyone blame her? Alex was hot and badass and sexy as hell, and she knew it. She'd spent enough drunken nights in clubs before the D.E.B.S. recruited her to know as much. But that didn't exactly translate to her always catching on when someone showed genuine interest. The Danvers sisters had that obliviousness in common.

"Yeah, maybe you're right." Alex often was, much to Kara's chagrin. "Alright." She blew the hair out of her face as she prepared for flight. "See you back at home base later?"

"I'll have the ice cream waiting for you."

"And pizza?" Kara asked, eyes wide and pout fully in place.

"Of course. Who do you think I am?"

Kara squealed and took off, throwing a 'best sister ever' to Alex over her shoulder. She followed the calls for 'Supergirl' she'd heard, hearing them coupled with laments that 'Kitty is stuck in the tree!' She only hoped that Kitty was an actual kitty and not a giant python like Fluffy was. Still, Alex had a point in waving her off to save the day. With everything that had been going on lately, she could use some cute animals in her life. After a couple minutes, Kara spotted the girl calling out for her and touched down next to her in a park. The girl was young, maybe 8 or 9, and standing near a tree. When she saw Supergirl, she stared slack-jawed, whispered 'cool', then turned around and held her hand out to the tree. Kara watched on in confusion. Realization struck, however, when none other than Lena Luthor stepped out from behind the tree to hand the girl a twenty dollar bill.

"For ice cream, as promised," Lena said, shooing the girl toward the ice cream truck parked up the hill. She turned to Kara with a sheepish smile. "Sorry for luring you here under false pretenses."

"I am kind of disappointed at the lack of furry animals I get to hold," Kara sassed back, still a bit wary.

"Well, there are plenty of dogs running around this park. At least there are furry animals you get to look at?" Lena said, trying to make up for the deception.

"It seems you know me well. You knew exactly what would get me here." Kara paused and scrutinized Lena. "Why _am_ I here, exactly?"

Lena sighed. In all the planning they'd done, she'd never actually gotten around to planning the whole 'talking to her' part.

"I wanted to apologize for how I left things that night. It's pretty much all I've been thinking about, if you can believe that." Lena let out a self-deprecating laugh.

"I can, actually," Kara supplied in a small voice.

"Oh." Lena looked surprised at that. "Well then... I just- I guess I wanted to let you know that I didn't mean what I said that night... I mean, about you being like Superman."

"I remember."

"Right. Of course you do." Lena sighed again. This really was not going well. Although, Kara was still there, and Lena hadn't been arrested yet, so all in all it could have been going worse. She started pacing as she tried to think of a way to explain. Not exactly the picture of composure, but she'd thrown any attempt at composure pretty much the second they'd met. "Look, you might be the only thing I have here in National City resembling a friend. I mean, I have Maggie, of course, but she's my partner first. Actually, she's more like family than my own family, to be honest. And then there's Jess, who knows me better than anyone, but we haven't yet managed to cross that employee/employer line to become anything close to actual friends, but that's beside the point-"

"Jess?" Kara filed that name away for later. It was one she hadn't heard yet, and she thought it might help her in her research.

"-and I can't believe I'm rambling on like this. It's so unlike me." Lena finally stopped pacing and turned back to Kara with her head tilted down and a shy smile on her face. "I must have missed you," she finished softly.

"You missed me?" Kara asked, somewhat astonished by the confession.

"I did," Lena replied, gaining back a bit of her confidence. "I know we only spent the one night together," and, _wow_ , that did not sound at all how she meant it, "but you really took the time to get to know me. Most people hear the name Luthor, and they run in the opposite direction. You were different. _Are_ different. You were understandably freaked out by the whole 'wanted criminal' thing, and I reacted poorly. Instead of giving you the time and space to come to terms with our... situation, I was rude. I had no right to throw our families back in your face, especially since you refrained from doing the same to me."

"But I did! Lena, I told you we couldn't see each other again," not see each other like _that_ , obviously, "because you were a Luthor and a criminal. Throwing our families in your face was exactly what I did, and I'm so so sorry. I never wanted you to feel like I blamed you for things your family did. Because I don't! Not at all. And I promise you, I'll do better. If you let me."

"So, what does this mean?" Lena asked, barely daring to hope.

"It means that, you're right. We should be friends."

"Friends?" Lena was right not to hope. She should have know Supergirl could never share her feelings.

"Absolutely. Best friends."

"Bezzie mates." God, could she be any more obvious right now? Any less straight? Any more of a giant lesbian? (The answer was yes. It can always get more gay.)

Kara laughed out loud. She loved hearing Lena's Irish accent slip through.

"Exactly," Kara said with a giant smile planted firmly and, it felt, permanently on her face. "We can have lunch together tomorrow. Friends lunch, right?" Kara didn't actually have any idea what friends did. Every friend she did have ended up in some complicated love triangle.

"Right." Lena, for her part, didn't have a clue either.

"Right! So... Tomorrow..." Why was she so nervous? There was nothing to be nervous about. She was just making a new friend. People did that all the time. Made new friends. With wanted felons. Who she was supposed to be apprehending. And who was really pretty and funny and had a gorgeous Irish accent. Such a totally normal thing to not be nervous over. "I'll bring take-out!"

"Bring take-out where?"

"To you! Where do you work during the day?"

"Uh, Kara, I don't think that's such a good idea..." And back was the fear of this all ending in her arrest.

"Oh, right. No, of course. Of course you don't trust me. That's fine! We can just meet somewhere!" Kara was trying her hardest now to keep that smile that once felt so permanent on her face. "Here? The park is nice to eat lunch in."

Lena could kick herself for putting that strained look on Kara's beautiful face. She never wanted to be the reason for Kara's distress. But was that a good enough reason to give up the location of her base of operations? Maggie would vehemently say 'no'. So would Jess. So would literally every person working for her, in fact.

She really wanted to say 'yes'.

"Here is great." Logic won out in the end.

"Great." Kara couldn't make it sound great, even to her own ears.

"Great." How had this gotten so awkward? At least they had plans to meet up again. "Noon work?"

Ten points for Hufflepuff for saying anything other than 'great'.

"That works great."

Epic fail.

"Great." And back was the urge to kick herself. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Tomorrow." Kara flew away feeling almost as defeated as she had watching Lena drive away that night, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out why.

 

"Unf," Kara groaned as she face-planted on the couch next to Alex.

"That bad, huh?" Alex heard Kara mumble something in response. "I'm sorry, you're going to have to free your face and say that again. I might be fluent in Kryptonian, but I am not fluent in whatever the hell that was."

"I said," Kara started after turning her head from its place squished in between the couch cushions, "I saw Lena Luthor."

"You what?!" Alex yelled.

"I saw Lena Luthor."

"No, I heard you that time. I just meant, what the hell were you thinking, Kara?"

"I wasn't thinking! The little girl I heard calling for me? That was her," Kara tried to explain.

"Lena was pretending to be a little girl?"

"No, she paid a little girl."

"I don't understand."

"She wanted to apologize, so she paid a little girl to pretend to get her cat stuck up a tree-"

"Oh my god," Alex interjected with an exasperated sigh.

"-and when I went to save it, she was there. She apologized for snapping at me that night and said she wanted to be friends."

"Friends," Alex repeated incredulously.

"Yeah. We can totally be friends." Kara tried to sound indignant. It didn't really work.

"Uh huh." Alex looked up to the ceiling and prayed for Rao or whatever gods were out there to end this suffering.

"At least, I want to be friends. But I don't know what Lena wants." She face planted into the cushions again.

"What do you mean?" She was really trying to keep up.

"Well, she wouldn't let me bring lunch to her at work tomorrow-"

"Wait, now you're bringing her lunch?"

"-and I'm sure it's because she doesn't trust me after what happened the other night-"

"Why are you bringing her lunch, exactly?"

"-which sucks because I'm super trustworthy!"

"Ok, we'll come back to the lunch thing later. Kara, did you ever think that maybe she won't tell you where she works because _she's_ the one who can't be trusted?"

"What? No. No! Three days ago you were still on my side. What changed?"

"Nothing changed. I just- Maybe we haven't found anything to prove her innocence because there's nothing to prove," Alex said, trying to reason with her.

"What happened to 'you guys get each other' and 'you were destined to meet' and 'we'll search for months for the truth if we have to'?" Kara was full on pouting at this point.

"I still believe all that-"

"Yeah right," Kara mumbled.

"-I just think we've maybe been a little one-sighted. We need to keep our minds open so we can see every possibility." More like: hope is dangerous, and Alex was going to have to deal with her own disappointment if it turned out they were wrong about this.

"Well, you go right ahead and be as open-minded as you want. I'm going to stay closed-minded and make Lena see how great a friend I can be." Kara remained determined.

"By bringing her lunch?" Alex was incredulous.

"Yes! A balanced meal is very important!"

"Balanced? Kara, your definition of a balanced meal is one where you're balancing twenty containers of potstickers on your flight home from China."

"And I'm sure Lena will appreciate potstickers fresh from China as well."

"Please tell me you're not planning to fly to China for potstickers for your friend date."

"It's not a date!"

"I didn't say it was. I said 'friend date'. Jeez." If Alex had her head in the game, she would have tried to figure out a reason behind Kara's outburst. As it were... "But maybe you're onto something."

"You mean becoming friends with Lena?"

"Yeah. Maybe you can get some insider intel by hanging out with her."

Kara knew that her 'not a date' had nothing to do with gathering intel, a point which she would have made if she weren't looking at Alex's face. Alex's face, which had that deep-thinking look on, the one Kara knew either meant she had thought up an astonishing breakthrough or an incredibly dangerous and stupid plan.

"Al, what's going on in that big brain of yours?"

"I should go back to the alien bar."

Or both.

"I thought you said-"

"I know what I said," Alex interrupted.

"But-"

"I changed my mind. I should go back, and if I see Ma- _Sawyer_ again, I make nice and get some intel of my own, and we finally put this investigation from hell to bed for good." Right. Great idea. Do it for the recon.

"Okayyy." Kara thought that there was something fishy going on with Alex and Maggie that night at the bar, which Alex had pretty much confirmed with how she shot down every attempt at a conversation about the tiny criminal since then, but Kara was a firm believer in the 'just wait around and hopefully it will turn out to be nothing' method of dealing with her sister's interpersonal relationship drama. It had worked for her so far. She'd definitely dodged a bullet by avoiding all the Max Lord drama of last year.

"Okay. So, tomorrow, you'll have lunch with Lena-"

"-and you'll have drinks with Maggie-"

"-and we'll finally get some answers."

"OR, we'll both have a great time making new friends!"

"You are far too sunny and optimistic for your own good."

"You love me anyway."

"Yeah, I do, you dork."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a bunch of vague ideas for one shots of like the "max lord incident" and lucyxvasquez or catxlois and other stuff, so I'd love to hear if there's anything specific outside of the plot you guys would like to maybe see too!
> 
> cash me on tumblr  
> https://thescreamingbisexual.tumblr.com/


	8. Lucy x Vasquez

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They'd seen each other before. They were colleagues, after all. They just hadn't _seen_ each other before.
> 
> Or: Vasquez is so so gay and Lucy notices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a lucy x vasquez chapter. no supercorp. no sanvers. if that's not your thing, feel free to ignore this and wait for the debs update. or if there's another chapter up already, just skip ahead to that.

The year: 20... well, 3 years before everything that happened in Chapter 6.

The time: 0800 hours. (That's 8:00 am. I think.)

The place: D.E.B.S. headquarters. Desert base.

 

Acting Director Lucy Lane was dreading this day. This was going to be a shit day. She just knew it.

She was new to this job, so she constantly thought that she was fucking it up; she couldn't learn everyone's names fast enough, she couldn't learn the secret protocol speak fast enough, and she still hadn't been able to find the vending machine.

Her best agent and prior boss (partner?) had just been arrested (read: taken hostage) by some quasi-governmental organization called Cadmus, which apparently had her father's stamp of approval, but which would also probably conduct mad scientist level experiments on them and turn them into crazy mutant science monsters.

Supergirl had been on her ass all week since she stepped into this job trying to get her to come up with a plan to get them out and clear their name.

And, to make matters worse, her boyfriend since college had just dumped her in the hopes that he could now pursue a relationship with said Supergirl, which... Hello? That's what she was gonna do! Now that he beat her to it, she felt that she should probably cease the endless flirting with the blonde superhero. Too bad. Lucy really thought they could be something. Granted, she was already something with James while having these thoughts, but still.

So, all in all, gonna be a crappy day.

 

Special Agent Susan Vasquez was dreading this day. This was going to be a shit day. She just knew it.

Her boss was gone.

Her friend (and maybe kind of crush, but she would never admit it) was gone.

And Supergirl seemed to be the only one trying to get them back.

It didn't help that the new Director was shooting down Supergirl's pleas for help at every turn. Or that she was a tight ass. Or that she had a tight ass.

Wait, what?

No, no tight ass. Vasquez hadn't noticed anyone's ass. (Well, maybe Alex's, but they'd gone through training together. It was hard not to when you're that close to someone. Not that she wanted to be up close with Alex. Or anyone. Nope.)

Fuck, this was gonna be such a crappy day. 

And Vasquez was so, _so_ gay.

 

"Vasquez, I need your help." Supergirl stormed through the locker room, grabbed Vasquez by the arm, and hauled her out, through the maze of the D.E.B.S. desert base, down eight floors, and into a women's restroom with an "out of order" sign on the door.

"What's your damage, Heather?" Vasquez asked when Supergirl finally let go of the vice grip on her arm.

"Who? Vasquez, my name is Kara. You know that. I've never changed it."

"No, I- Nevermind. What's up, Kara." Vasquez really couldn't blame the straight, alien, personification of sunshine for not having seen the broody eighties movie that ushered Vasquez into her long series of crushes on women.

"I need your help," she said, confusion gone and all business face back firmly in place.

"With...?"

"Getting Hank and Alex."

"And I'm assuming the fact that we're discussing this in an out of order restroom in the basement, alone, means whatever plan you've cooked up isn't exactly sanctioned?" Kara's downturned head and feet scuffing against the tile floor were answer enough. Vasquez felt a mischievous grin take over her face. "I'm in."

"Really?" Kara squealed and bounced up and down in her excitement. She knew, out of everyone in the D.E.B.S., Vasquez would be the most likely to be down with "some cowboy shit," as Alex had so eloquently described their involvement in a plan somewhat similar to this before Kara joined the D.E.B.S.

"Really." Vasquez would do pretty much anything for Alex, and she knew Alex would be doing the same for her if their roles were reversed right now. Honestly, she was kind of surprised Kara had waited this long to ask. "Where do we start?" This day was starting to look up.

 

Lucy was right. This day sucked. It was close to noon, and she had no one manning controls. She'd been asking the agents who was supposed to be there, but everyone had a different answer. That, or she just couldn't remember what names they'd said to know if they'd all had the same answer. And, to add insult to injury, she still hadn't seen Supergirl. She was probably off with James. Lucy bet he'd already slipped in and made himself her boyfriend. The rat bastard.

So, here she was, wandering around the basement of the facility after having gotten lost in search of the vending machine. It's not like she had time for a real lunch with all the catching up she had to do to figure out this job. And now she really had to pee.

The only restroom she'd seen down here had an out of order sign on it, but you know what they say: beggars can't be choosers.

"And then all we need to do is-"

Two pairs of striking eyes, one blue and one brown, whipped around at Lucy's entrance to stare at her in shock. Lucy looked around and saw files and blueprints and equipment and weapons strewn around the bathroom, and in the middle of it all, a small but built agent with short, spiky, brown hair and none other than Supergirl.

"Agents," Lucy addressed them, still confused as to what was going on. And still needing to pee.

"Lucy," Kara squeaked at the same time that Vasquez spoke an even, "Ma'am."

"What are you doing down here?"

Vasquez had the perfect plan to get them out of this. She would play it cool, give some misdirection by-

"Alex and Hank are gone and we needed a plan because if they get all the way to Cadmus who knows what they'll do to them and I'm Supergirl so I can't let that happen plus Alex is my sister and I love her more than anything and I know Vasquez loves Alex and Hank like family like I do so I asked for her help because Alex said she was 'a badass' who could pull off some totally off the books 'cowboy shit' and usually I don't use words like that but this has been really stressing me out and I came up with a plan that couldn't put the D.E.B.S. in danger but you wouldn't listen to me and I don't blame you because I know this job is important to you and really hard right now so I didn't want to keep stressing you out because I really do care about you but I just... I just..." Kara's rambling finally ran out of steam, and she hung her head as she realized how much trouble she was probably in. "I'll stop now. I'm sorry."

Lucy sighed.

"What's the plan?"

Kara squealed again.

 

Kara was right. Vasquez was a badass. Lucy hadn't even managed to learn her name until she'd heard Kara say it about nine times during this top secret, basement bathroom planning session. Now that she had, though, she wouldn't be forgetting it soon. The girl had balls. Balls which she had prominently displayed just in gathering intel and swiping federal property they'd need for this mission.

Vasquez, for her part, had somewhat rethought the tight ass assessment. Not the assessment of her tight ass, just of her being a tight ass. No, Vasquez had definitely had the chance to appraise the acting director's finer qualities - _ass_ ets, if you will - while they'd been maneuvering around the small bathroom all day. To say it was close quarters would be an understatement. Vasquez hadn't exactly complained, though.

Lucy and Vasquez were alone now. Kara had left them for a training session with Cat. The plan to bust out Alex and Hank was pretty much finalized. They knew where to be, when to be there, and what fire power they needed to bring with. Kara and Lucy would roll up on matching motorcycles, and Vasquez would call the whole thing from mission control. Mission control being her apartment, but whatever.

Oh, the director was still tough; that, Vasquez had been right about. She could tell Lucy was a take no shit kind of girl. But the second she gave in and asked about the plan to get Alex and Hank out of Cadmus's clutches, Vasquez knew there was more to Lucy than met the eye.

"We should probably get all of this packed up and back where you found it. Wouldn't wanting anyone getting suspicious."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Vasquez, we're planning a mission that could get me killed and you thrown in prison. Actually, it could get me thrown in prison too. Call me Lucy."

"Lucy," Vasquez amended.

"I don't get a first name to use?" Lucy teased.

"I don't go by my first name, ma'am." At seeing Lucy's glare, Vasquez quickly appeased her with a smile and a soft, "Lucy."

"Vasquez it is. I thought it was weird when Kara wouldn't drop the formality. That girl is not exactly one to stand on pretence."

Vasquez let out a low, full laugh.

"No. That, she is not."

And if Lucy thought that laugh was the sexiest thing she'd heard all day, well, this mission was off-book after all.

 

Vasquez's low whistle could be heard over Lucy and Kara's comms.

"Damn. Who knew Lucy Lane, Acting Director of the D.E.B.S., would look so hot riding a motorcycle?"

"You know I can hear you, right?"

"Actually, Lucy, I think you _were_ the one meant to hear that." Kara may appear innocent, but she knew when people were flirting, and these two had been flirting non-stop all day. She couldn't get out of that bathroom fast enough. The sexual tension was literally suffocating. And she was Supergirl. She had lungs of steel. It was all she could do to wait till her training session with Cat as an excuse to get out of there, and even then she left an hour early to "prepare."

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm cooped up here while you get all the action."

"Someone's cranky. You not getting enough action, Vasquez?" Ok, maybe that was a little more overt than the flirting they'd been doing earlier in the day, but Vasquez started it. (That extra sway she put in her hips on her way up the stairs to put away their stolen equipment was definitely not overt. If Vasquez wanted to stare, that was her fault.)

"Oh, I'll show you just how 'part of the action' I can be."

"Still here, guys!" Kara yelled.

 

The second she had her sister and space dad safely in her arms, Kara finally switched off her comm and relieved herself of having to overhear Lasquez, as she had personally appointed as their ship name, and their flirting, which had just gotten more overt and sexual and uncomfortable as the night wore on. But not before shouting out a, "Bye you love birds!" into the comm with a wicked grin. When Alex asked about it later, after the excitement of the night had worn off and they were cuddled up safely in Alex's bed together, Kara shrugged it off and said she'd figure it out herself soon enough.

Lucy and Vasquez both laughed loudly at Kara's sign off.

"You think we scarred her?" Lucy asked into her comm as she took off on her motorcycle back into town.

"Nah, she's tougher than she looks."

"Well, she looks pretty tough, so that's saying something."

And there was that low, sexy laugh again.

"So."

"So."

"How does the Acting Director of the D.E.B.S. like to cool down after a successful mission?"

"Well, I don't know about cooling down, but I do know how she likes to heat things up."

"Lucy," Vasquez warned.

"Vasquez."

"Are you sure you wanna do this?"

"Are you not?" Lucy had been so sure the flirting had been mutual, had been real, but maybe Vasquez was just trying to rile up her new boss, get a feel for how far she could push things. Maybe she didn't actually mean any of it. "Cuz if this was just some kind of-"

"No. No, I- I mean, yes. I'm sure. I was just checking." Smooth, Vasquez. Real smooth.

"Ok."

"Ok."

Lucy laughed and it was light and it was free and it was everything Vasquez wanted.

"Over and out, Agent." Lucy switched off her comm and heard a ping on her phone. She pulled over, knowing what she hoped it would be. She wasn't disappointed.

Vasquez: 1421 E 14th St. Apt. 141 ;)

Thank god Hank was back and she could hand the reins back over. With what she thought, hoped, knew would happen tonight, things would get interesting if she had to get up in the morning and go back to being the boss.

And things were definitely going to get interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, if anyone actually enjoyed this little aside instead of pulled this up and thought "what the shit is this?" I'd love to hear it and if you have any other little one shots you'd like to see!
> 
> also I suck at smut. if anyone has author recs, I'd love to get someone to guest write smut for this couple as well as supercorp and sanvers later on. or if anyone wants to volunteer themselves??
> 
> hmu @thescreamingbisexual


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Lena have their lunch... thing. Alex finds Maggie at the dive bar. Everyone has feelings.
> 
> just some goobers being goobers. goobers in love. lovely loving goobers.
> 
> this doesn't all happen at the same time, but I liked the format of switching back and forth between supercorp and sanvers and the damnvers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so so sorry for the long ass wait. seriously so long. months long. basically half a year long. I suck. I know this. but I also took the bar, passed the bar, started a new job lawyering, and have been traveling half the week every week for this new lawyering thing, so life's been a bit hectic. BUT! it seems to be mellowing out a bit. I'm getting my groove back. (you know how far gone my groove has been? I haven't been on a date or opened a dating app since june. JUNE! it hasn't even occurred to me! no dating since june. man, that is so long. tmi? maybe. probably.) anyhoo... merry christmas eve eve and happy reading!

She wasn't being ridiculous. She wasn't. Alex said she shouldn't go all the way to China for potstickers just for this, and she didn't. So what if she still went all the way to Chinatown for them? That was just in New York. She didn't even leave the country. If that wasn't the picture of low key practicality, she didn't know what was. Now if only she could get her heart to stop racing. Just from the adrenaline of flying, not anything else. There was absolutely no other reason her heart should be racing right now.

Right?

Kara touched down in the park right where she did the day before. Despite the fact that she was expecting to see Lena, the sight of the last free Luthor still took her by surprise. There she was, sitting primly on a park bench, like the sun was lucky just to be able to shine down upon her. _Rao_ , she was beautiful.

"Lena?"

Lena finally looked up and saw her, and Kara watched as the first full, genuine smile since the night they met lit up Lena's face. Lena took in this new side of Supergirl, this incognito Kara. She was wearing a yellow sundress with a thin brown belt and brown oxfords. Her hair was up in a ponytail with delicate wisps blown free from the wind framing her face. She was dazzling.

"Kara," Lena practically breathed out. Wow, really great start to the whole 'friends with no romantic feelings whatsoever' thing. She cleared her throat and shook the thoughts from her head. Thoughts like, _She's really here_ , and _She looks like an angel with the sun hitting her like that_ , and _Why is it so much easier to breathe when she's around?_ "Hi."

"Hi!" Kara eagerly responded. "Have you been waiting here long?"

"Not at all. Would you like to sit?"

"Sit! Right, yes, sitting." Kara could feel her heart pounding in her chest from nerves. She really wanted this to work out. "I didn't know what you'd like, so I pretty much got one of everything. Is Chinese ok? I didn't even ask. Oh, you probably hate Chinese, and now I've screwed everything up, and-"

"Kara." Lena stopped her ever growing panic right in its tracks when she took her hand. And if Kara's heart skipped a beat when she felt Lena's hand on hers, well at least Lena didn't have super hearing. "I love Chinese. I'm sure whatever you got will be great."

"Oh, ok, great." Oh, please tell her they weren't spiraling back into that never-ending use of 'great' thing from the last time they saw each other. That was so embarrassing. She had other words! Some great words. She was a top government agent writing a paper on this woman as the world's leading expert, for Rao's sake! Surely she could find some other words. (Rao, please help her find some other words.) "I love Chinese too." Nailed it.

As Kara started unpacking her hull, Lena was struck with a very important revelation: Kara had muscles. So many muscles. And not just any muscles. Not the kind that bulged and clearly indicated that the owner 'worked out'. No, Kara's muscles didn't bulge. They _strained_. They tightened and shifted in a way that told Lena that they were natural, just a part of Kara's body. And _oh_ what a body it was. Kara's sleeveless dress showed off her biceps, triceps, forearms, deltoids, rippling back and shoulders with each new bag that she lifted from the ground and unpacked on the bench between them. They were all on full display, and Lena watched with rapt attention and dry throat until Kara was finished laying out their food, clearing her throat to gently urge Lena's eyes back up to her own. 

Goddess help her.

 

Here she was, yet again, sitting at the bar, the alien bar, like she had been every night since coming here with a pair of secret agent sisters, looking into her beer and pointedly _not_ glancing at the door every time it opened. At least if she didn't look, she could more easily convince herself that she didn't care who might be coming through it, convince herself she wasn't watching for short, auburn hair, convince herself she wasn't waiting for her eyes to meet wide, brown ones. At least if she didn't look, she wouldn't have to keep being disappointed when the sight she hoped for never came.

Not looking didn't stop her from hoping, though.

And if she coped with that hoping by flirting a bit more, forcing more smiles, accepting more attention, well, it never amounted to anything anymore. It always felt... _wrong_ somehow when they asked if she wanted to get out of there at the end of each night, the reason for which she refused to explore, even if she knew. _Oh_ , did she know.

Which is why it took her by complete surprise when she heard that voice, that voice that belonged to that reason, sneak up on her and throw everything she thought she knew right out the window of this dingy, alien bar.

"Sawyer."

Maggie snapped her head around, eyes wide, to find the source of the voice.

"Agent Danvers," Maggie said, appearing unaffected and vowing to herself she'd play it cool, let none of her feelings show.

"In the flesh. This seat taken?" Alex asked, picture of smooth confidence. (What Maggie didn't know about was the twenty minutes Alex spent on the drive over talking to herself and perfecting her calm exterior as she delivered that line.)

"Been saving it for you." Oh, for fuck's sake. So much for cool. "I knew you couldn't stay away for long." Nice save.

"Someone's sure of herself," Alex sassed as she took the offered barstool. "Can I get a bourbon? Neat," she said to the bartender. Darla, if she remembered correctly. She didn't notice the roll of eyes Darla sent to the Latina to her left.

"No beer this time, Danvers?"

"With the week I've had? No. I need something stronger tonight." Alex threw the glass back and slid it back to Darla for another pour.

"Oh? And what was so bad about this week?" Maggie asked.

"I thought we weren't the 'tell me about your week' kind of friends." Alex took a small sip of her newly poured drink.

"Is that what we are? Friends?" She'd take it, even if the word kind of hurt to hear.

"If you can think of a better word to describe a tiny maybe ex-criminal and the badass federal agent tasked to arrest her but instead having a drink with her in a bar filled with aliens, I'd love to hear it."

"Friends works for me," Maggie said with a laugh. "Though watch who you're calling tiny, Ms. Badass Federal Agent."

"What, you think you can take me? Please. You couldn't even take me in pool, and physical prowess has nothing to do with winning there."

"Oh, I know I could take you." When Maggie started envisioning herself pinning Danvers to a sparring mat and testing just what kind of physical prowess the agent was working with, she knew it was time to change conversation topics. "Too bad you're too much of a coward to ever find out. You want another drink before a rematch? I told you I'd finally win next time." Maggie gestured behind them to the pool table and started making her way over with a smile, double dimples and all.

"I'm good." So, so good. Those dimples were really something else. "And _I_ told _you_ , never gonna happen," Alex said, following the smaller brunette over and grabbing a cue with her free hand.

"It's on."

 

"Ok, I mean, I love him. I do! I _love_ him. But. Come on! JT has got to be the only one holding up the reunion right now," Kara said passionately.

The two had finished eating - Kara demolishing a much larger portion than Lena, much to the delight of Lena's scientifically inclined mind - and fallen deep into pop culture rabbit hole of conversation. They had been talking about their great many travels, both Earthly and other-worldly, and when Lena mentioned a guilty pleasure in blasting 90s music on road trips, Kara's squeal had their conversation careening into all things boy-band.

"Oh, obviously! Here, but let me ask you this, right. Would you rather have an *NSYNC reunion... or JT and Britney back together?" Lena asked with a raised eyebrow, and Kara was pretty convinced at this point that she knew exactly what she was doing in brandishing that particular weapon.

"Ughh, my OTP," Kara lamented with a hand clutched to her heart.

Lena giggled - honest to Rao giggled - and Kara felt lighter just for hearing it.

"That's an impossible question to answer, and you're cruel for asking," Kara responded, and the beaming smile on her face showed that she absolutely did not hold it against Lena.

"Yeah, well, sometimes my Luthor genes just shine through," Lena joked with a sarcastic, lop-sided smirk.

Neither could stop the laughs that bubbled forward, both at Lena's teasing and just the joy of the other's company.

"Thanks for meeting me here," Lena said sincerely, bringing the topic back to a semblance of seriousness. "I know you said you'd come to where I work, but things are pretty hectic there right now. And thank you also for bringing lunch. It all was so good, I'd believe you went all the way to Chinatown to get them."

Kara ducked her head at that, a little embarrassed now that she had, in fact, gone all the way to Chinatown.

"Yeah, well, you're worth the extra effort," she replied shyly. When she looked back up, Lena had the softest smile on her face, and Kara didn't feel quite so embarrassed anymore.

"Well, next time, lunch is on me," Lena promised.

"Next time?" Kara asked, surprised. She had hoped to continue her fragile friendship with Lena, but she hadn't dreamed it would be agreed to so easily. She thought it would take more than just potstickers flown in from Chinatown and a few hours of conversation.

"If you want, that is." Lena was suddenly insecure about her offer. It had seemed like a good idea when she said it, but looking then at Kara's shocked face, she was starting to have second thoughts.

"I want!" Kara reassured, and Lena's shoulders relaxed. After a moment of silence just smiling at each other, Kara remembered to ask, "So what is it that's got your workplace so hectic?"

"Top secret," Lena replied with a sarcastic smirk.

"Intriguing." Kara leaned forward toward Lena, her elbows on her knees and her eyebrows raised to encourage Lena to continue. Finally, Lena gave in.

"Ok, what do you know about immunological responses to carcinogens?" Kara gave her a blank stare. "Biomedical nanotechnology?"

"Nano- med- what?" Kara asked sheepishly. She hoped Lena would cut her some slack on this one. She might have been a certifiable genius by Earth standards and at one point about to be the youngest member of the Science Guild in Krypton's history, but she had to learn English as her second language - or, to be more accurate, her 9th language, along with the other four most widely spoken Earth languages programmed into her space travel pod - while alone and stranded in a timeless void with no one to practice with. While she had done a truly amazing job of getting rid of her accent, some of the more technical and colloquial and really everything aspects of the language still escaped her at times. Not to mention that Earth was centuries behind Krypton in their knowledge of advanced math and technology. It was basically like giving a modern Earth teenager an abacus and expecting them know what to do with it. Still, despite Kara knowing she couldn't be expected to keep up, she still felt embarrassed admitting to not understanding something, especially now.

"Well, we're doing some truly amazing things. I'm sure, when you see them, you'll be impressed," Lena replied, now adopting her own shy demeanor.

"I think a lot about you would impress me," Kara admitted softly.

"I could say the same about you, Supergirl."

"Oh, please." Kara waved the compliment away with a scoff. "Supergirl is just what I can do. Kara is who I am."

"Well I hope you'll allow me to continue getting to know who you are, Kara." Lena tried to hold Kara's eyes as she said so, wanting to get across just how much she meant it.

"I'd like that," she said with a huge smile on her face. She finally felt like they were getting somewhere, like she was accomplishing her mission - Mission: Befriend Lena Luthor, not whatever stupid plan her sister had for her own night. "So about this next time..."

Lena's responding laugh - with her head thrown back and her eyes alight - made Kara realize that she could never believe Lena to be evil. How could someone who produced a laugh that bright ever have a dark heart?

"How does tomorrow sound? Same time, same place? At least while the weather is still nice."

"Tomorrow sounds perfect."

"Tomorrow then. And I promise to bring enough to satisfy your super-powered appetite," Lena added cheekily. "Speaking of which, I have some questions about that."

"I'll tell you anything you wanna know tomorrow. Promise."

"I really have to wait till tomorrow?"

Kara giggled as what seemed like an honest-to-Rao pout took residence on Lena's lips.

"Something to look forward to. Besides, don't you need to get back to your very hectic but impressive science-y work project?"

"Fine." The pout lessened, but didn't entirely disappear as Lena resigned herself to their time together ending for the day. She looked at the time on her phone, shocked when she realized how much time had passed with them just talking. "Yes, I probably should get back. Make sure the place hasn't blown up in my absence. How anything gets done there without me, I will never know."

"Someone thinks very highly of themselves," Kara teased.

"Well, you know what they say. 'If you want something done right...'" Lena trailed off as the pair packed up and disposed of the trash from their long-ago finished lunch.

Kara didn't in fact know that was what they said (though an old Kryptonian idiom about children running and crumbling spires came to mind), but she nodded along anyway and turned back to face Lena when their clean-up was finished.

"Really, they can be a bunch of toddlers if someone isn't around to make sure they're actually working and not just playing bingo. Though, at least we have Alana. She can be even scarier than I can when someone needs to be motivated." Another name for Kara to file away for future reference.

"I hope your office is intact, then. See you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow. I'm already looking forward to it."

"You mean you're already looking forward to nerding out over my superpowers."

"That too." Lena stood up from the bench to leave with an indulgent smile. As Kara followed her up, she did something impulsive. She held out her arms for a hug. A hug! Luthors don't hug. Except apparently this one did when faced with a gorgeous, teasing, muscle-y goddess. Kara for her part didn't even hesitate, slotting herself perfectly against Lena and wrapping her arms tightly around the brunette's waist. When Lena heard Kara's sigh, her knees nearly buckled. It was the single best hug Lena had ever experienced, and though she didn't want it to end, she didn't want to be a creep either. She reluctantly pulled away, offering a soft 'bye, Kara' before watching the superhero disappear in a blur of yellow so subtle it looked like the sun reflecting light off the wind. Lena's own sigh was both heavy and wistful as she made to psych herself back up to return to the harsh glow of her lab, a lab sorely lacking in sweet, beautiful, space puppies.

 

"I'm telling you, she's a K'hund."

"No, ok? No. Bullshit. There's no way. I've fought a K'hund, and they're these huge hulking warrior guys. She's not a K'hund."

"Ok, except she totally is. Look at the pattering on her forehead."

"Valeronians have markings on their scalps too, and they're much more typically humanoid with the same amount of strength. I promise you, that lady is not a K'hund."

"Well, she's not a Valeronian either. She doesn't have the raised formation across the top of her head that Valeronians have."

"Not all Valeronians have the protrusion, you know."

"No shit?"

"Nope."

"Huh." Their bickering finally paused as Maggie took in this new information. After Maggie was once again thoroughly trounced in pool by Alex, they ordered another round of drinks and started picking out all the species of alien they knew, consistently trying to one-up each other. So far they had picked out every reptillian-looking species in the bar - Llaran, Tsauron, and even an Uxorian - and gone through a game of 'Human or Shape-Shifter' before diving into their current debate of identifying the species of the blonde currently dancing on the bar and wearing a tank-top that showed off her muscles. "I still think she's a K'hund."

"You just want to be able to say you've seen one in person. You can't fool me, Sawyer. I see right through you, Miss Alien-Obsessed."

"I'm not obsessed with aliens."

"No, you only date them and then turn around and work with the last free member of a family famous for hating aliens." Ok, their friendly banter was turning personal now, and not in a good way.

"It's not like that," Maggie said defensively.

"I really don't know what it's like," Alex said, equally on edge.

Maggie stared her down until a realization hit, eyes widening in understanding.

"Is that why you're here?"

"Is what why I'm here?" Alex asked, exasperated.

"To get information on Lena. On me." God, she was so stupid. Of course that's all this was. Danvers was still straight and still a fed and was there for intel, not because she wanted to see Maggie, missed Maggie, liked Maggie.

"Oh, come on, Sawyer." (Here it comes. Even Danvers knew she was an idiot.) "You really think if I was here to pump you for info I would have spent 30 minutes just playing pool and then three times that giving you all the intel I had on various alien species?" Pumping Sawyer for intel was exactly why Alex had come there, and that's precisely what she would tell anyone who asked. The fact that this night had devolved into what it had was entirely out of Alex's control. She was powerless to stop it. Sawyer didn't seem convinced, so Alex decided to pad her story a bit. "You... made an impression on me that night," she added, her voice softening with the truth of that statement. Realizing how that sounded, she continued in a more sarcastic tone. "I mean, can you blame me? I beat you at pool, like, 50 times. Hanging out with you is a definite ego boost, Sawyer." Right, yeah. That's exactly why Alex hadn't been able to stop thinking about the Latina and her soft brown eyes and double dimples all week. Sawyer, thankfully, laughed off Alex's attempt to breeze past her moment of earnestness.

"Oh, so that's the reason for your impromptu mid-week visit? An ego boost?" Maggie asked with a smirk.

"Well, that and winning all your money." Alex's retort was accompanied by her own lop-sided smile (which Maggie absolutely did not find charming as hell).

"Which you still have yet to give me a chance to win back, by the way," Maggie accused.

"We played multiple rounds of pool tonight!"

"I mean at something I actually have a shot in hell at beating you at. Are you sure you're not an alien like your sister? But just with pool skill superpowers?"

"I'm sure. Besides, I think based on tonight, you'd be the one to know if an alien with pool skill superpowers existed."

"Oh, they do," Maggie said seriously, poker face in full force.

"Do they," Alex replied with a monotone, sarcastic smirk still in place.

"Definitely." Maggie cracked a smile after a moment, enjoying the return to their light banter. "Maybe next time we can make things interesting and actually add some stakes to these alien species arguments of ours."

"You mean like bet on it?" Alex's smile had turned from sarcastic to actually excited.

"Exactly." Maggie knew she had her at the look on Danvers' face.

"You're my kind of girl, Sawyer," Alex said appreciatively.

Crap, now Maggie was going to be fantasizing about Danvers calling her 'my girl.' Just what she needed.

"You mean you federal agents aren't too straight edge to gamble?" That's right, Maggie. Keep reminding yourself she's straight.

"Oh, you'd be surprised at the amount of illegal shit I've gotten into."

"Damn, Danvers." Did she have to be so sexy when she said 'illegal shit' like that?

"That's Doctor Doctor Special Agent DAMNvers to you." (Ok, apparently they had not even scratched the surface of Danvers' capabilities for sexiness. At least as far as Maggie was concerned.) "Not that I'm counting, or anything," Alex finished, trying to play it off.

"Nerd," Maggie said affectionately.

"Pfft, what? No." Alex knew she wasn't very convincing. Why did she want to appear cool in front of Sawyer? And why was she having such a hard time doing it? She'd blame it on those damn double dimples Sawyer was flashing her. They were throwing her off. Along with the accompanying head tilt making her look like an understanding puppy. How dare she, truly. "I'm not nerdy. My sister, she's the nerdy one. Me, I'm just- Science- and- Cool things- I'm like- I'm the picture of cool."

The fact that this woman could go from absolute badass to adorable, flustered, awkward, little bean was doing things to Maggie. Things she did not want to dwell on. She had to get out of there.

Abort!

"Oh, I definitely agree with you there. Very cool, Danvers," she said as she stood and threw her leather jacket on. "Think you'll be able to take care of your self on these mean streets, or do you need me to walk you to your car?"

"I'm sure I'll manage," Alex responded as she donned her own leather coat. "And it's a Ducati Monster, actually."

"Nice ride," Maggie said, impressed. "I've got a Triumph Bonneville T100 parked out back myself."

"Maybe we can take them for a spin together sometime?" Alex didn't know what made her offer that. Just that the thought of Sawyer riding next to her on an empty highway was more appealing than she wanted to admit.

"Yeah, that'd be fun. Till next time, then. You know where to find me?" At Danvers' nod, Maggie finished with, "See you round, Danvers," and they both headed out of the bar in opposite directions.

As they walked to their respective bikes, both were counting down till tomorrow night and hoping the other would be back in the alien bar again too.

 

Kara slid back into wakefulness as she felt someone slipping under the covers beside her.

"You awake?" a voice whispered from the pillow next to hers.

"Alex?" she asked.

"Yeah," the voice answered back.

"Mmhmm, 'm up," Kara mumbled out as she rolled over to face her sister. "What're you doin'?"

"I just got home a little while ago," Alex said, perking Kara right up.

"From the alien bar?!?" Kara squealed in response. "Ahh! How was it? Tell me everything!" They were both fully sitting up by then, facing each other cross-legged in Kara's bed.

"Later. First, I want to hear about your lunch with Lena. Lucy had me out on a recon mission on Cadmus when you got back, and I haven't seen you all day," she complained to her sister. "Which, speaking of, I have so much to tell you about that. The real Hank Henshaw is alive."

"What?!"

"I know!"

"Ok, no, my lunch with Lena can come later. I need to hear what happened with that."

"Maybe we should make a list and just talk about it all tomorrow," Alex joked.

"Um, no. I am way to wired now to wait till tomorrow. I won't be able to get any sleep unless we talk about this now." Screw her Kryptonian brain and it's tendency to keep her up at night when something was on her mind.

"Ok, fine. But then Lena," Alex demanded.

"And then Maggie!"

"There's really nothing to talk about. I didn't even get any useful information out of her other than a bunch of vaguely sexual information about a ton of alien species. She has slept with a surprising amount of aliens." A fact which absolutely did not bother her. At all.

"Ok, circling back to that later-"

"We really do need a list," Alex interceded.

"-I didn't really get anything either," Kara continued uninterrupted. "But I do know she works with someone named Alana. And I already told you about Jess."

"We'll look into that tomorrow. Right now, let's get back to Cadmus."

The Danvers sisters stayed up for hours talking about Cadmus, Hank Henshaw-turned-Cyborg Superman, Kara's lunch with Lena, and Alex's night with Sawyer. The finally fell asleep agreeing that the DAMNvers sisters absolutely needed to be a thing.

 

"You were out later than usual."

"Mother fucker!" Maggie yelled. "You scared the shit out of me. What the fuck are you doing sitting there in the dark? Were you waiting for me?"

"Wow, you cuss a lot when you're drunk and sexually frustrated," Lena said, turning a light on next to her chair.

"I'm not sexually frustrated, you weirdo," Maggie huffed as she walked away. "And I'm not drunk either," she called over her shoulder.

"Sure," Lena said disbelievingly while following Maggie through their property.

"Oh, like you're one to talk. How was your lunch?" Maggie asked pointedly, spinning around to face Lena.

"We're not talking about me right now," she deflected.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." They stood there staring one another down for a moment until devolving into laughter. "We're pretty screwed, aren't we?"

"So screwed," Lena agreed.

"Problem for future us?" Maggie suggested, pointing upstairs to their sleep quarters.

"Problem for future us."

 _The Danvers sisters were certainly becoming a problem_ , they both thought as they headed up to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hopefully the really long chapter makes up for the really long break? 
> 
> so many canon debs and supergirl things in here. thanks performativezippers for inspiration for the doctor doctor special agent thing (still obsessed with your spin class au) and Lola_McGee for berating this chapter into being (you are seriously my own person hero atm)
> 
> be my friend? thescreamingbisexual.tumblr.com


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some time has passed - days? weeks? who knows? not me - and stuff is HAPPENING, let me tell you. You get a cameo! And you get a cameo! (Oprah is still everything and so was her golden globes speech.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, this one is kinda short, but it's cuz I ended up splitting the chapter I was going to write in half instead of putting up just one 5000 word chapter
> 
> also, I usually like showing instead of telling, but I got a little fatigued about 2/3 of the way through and started just telling. I'm hoping the humor and meta-ness of it all makes up for it. feel free to yell at me if it doesn't, though. I can take it *clenches fist in determination*
> 
> thescreamingbisexual.tumblr.com

"I have donuts!" Kara exclaimed as she touched down near what had eventually been dubbed the "Bestie Brunch Bench."

"Kara, you know it's my turn to bring food. I brought Greek, and then you brought pizza, and then I brought Indian, and then you brought burgers, and then I brought vegan lasagna-"

"Exactly! Vegan, Lena," Kara interjected with an accompanying full body shiver. "I couldn't trust you not to do that to me again. I had to bring reinforcements in case you decided that salad was acceptable lunch food."

"It wasn't salad. It was lasagna! Just because there were vegetables in it-"

"Rabbit food," came the quiet mumble.

"-doesn't mean it's not edible or filling," Lena finished defensively.

"Kryptonian, remember? We talked about this. Extensively."

"Yes, yes. You need approximately 6.7 times the amount of calories per day as the average human to survive. I know. That's why it was an _entire_ lasagna." Really, Lena thought she was being very accommodating that day. "There wasn't even any kale!"

"Oh, you mean poison?" Kara's poorly hidden smile betrayed her, and the fact that she'd been teasing became abundantly clear to the Luthor.

"Just open the bags," Lena said with a laugh.

"Burritos!" Kara squealed.

"There's even meat in yours," Lena said affectionately.

"You're the best," Kara replied sweetly with a kiss to Lena's cheek.

Lena's responding blush remained fixed on her cheeks far longer than she would admit to anyone. Ever.

A blush that later matched the one on Kara's face after she had to go through the excruciating experience of watching Lena eat a donut. Seriously, who ate like that? Pulling a bite off one by one - it was blasphemy. Especially since Lena had to lick the icing off her finger and thumb after every single bite. How was it even effective trying to suck on both at the same time? It wasn't, was the answer. Kara had some serious concerns about Lena's eating habits, which she only watched because of how weird it was, no other reason. (Uh huh... sure.)

 

"Pay up, Danvers!" Maggie called, slamming her hand down on the bar.

"Nope. Nuh uh. That doesn't count!" Alex insisted, shaking her head.

"There were no conditions on how I had to get their number, just that I had to get it."

"There was an implicit understanding that you'd be able to get it on the basis of your game, not your honesty," Alex tried to explain rationally.

"I have game! Honesty is my game. Just because you're not mature enough to realize it-"

"Mature?! Ma- Excuse me. I'll have you know I am plenty mature. Besides, I'm not the one who insisted they could get a Sangtee to give you their number and wanted to bet on it. That was all you, so who's the mature one in this relationship? Cuz I know it's not you." Fuck, did she just say relationship?

Fuck, did Danvers just say relationship? No, Maggie, put the feelings for the straight girl away.

"Yeah, well, it worked, didn't it? And it's not like you were trying to talk me out of it."

"Because I thought I'd actually get to see some skill at work. You talk a big game about being the master of all things alien-dating, but have I actually seen any proof of that? No!"

"Fine. You wanna see some skill? I'll try again with the thin Trophy Lord over there, no letting her onto what I'm doing. Double or nothing. Deal?" No, no deal. Take it back, Maggie, useless lesbian. There's no way she wins this. God, why did have to say that? Was trying to impress Danvers really so important to her that she'd risk being humiliated when this all goes wrong? Apparently yes.

"Normally, I'd say no because if I was concerned about my ability to sneak one grenade out of the D.E.B.S. for you, I definitely couldn't sneak two. On the other hand, Trophy Lords are absolute assholes who only care about warfare and couldn't give two shits about dating, let alone dating someone so tiny." Alex heard Sawyer's offended huff at being called tiny. "Plus, they've definitely seen you talking to the Sangtee, so I really don't see a universe in which I loose this one," she finished with a confident smirk.

"Watch and learn, Danvers," Maggie said with way more confidence than she felt as she sauntered off to approach the small band of Trophy Lords at the dartboard.

When she was picked up and thrown across the bar for her efforts, Alex was up immediately to collect her and help her run out of the bar toward their bikes, both laughing the whole way.

"Two weeks, Maggie! Two weeks of wearing Supergirl merch. And I want pictures!" Alex teased, gleeful over winning the bet.

As they got outside, Maggie realized that Danvers' hand was still in hers. Totally worth it.

 

"Hey, babe," Lucy said as she approached Vasquez in the D.E.B.S. headquarters' locker room.

"Hey." Vasquez's response was terse as she slammed her locker door shut.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked, suddenly worried about her girlfriend.

"I hear you're going back under," Vasquez said, trying to keep her voice even.

"Who told you that?"

"Office rumor mill. You know how it is here."

"Well it's bullshit," Lucy bit out, a little angry that someone had made her girlfriend upset like that unnecessarily.

"What do you mean?" Vasquez asked, finally able to look Lucy in the eye.

"I'm not going undercover again," Lucy insisted.

"You're not?" Vasquez was really trying not to be hopeful, but she wanted to be wrong so badly.

"No. Not like last time. I'm just taking a day or two to touch back in with some contacts. I'm in the doghouse with Roulette after that Luthor debacle, and I need to reach back out to some Cadmus contacts now that we know about Cyborg Superman," Lucy explained.

"I still can't believe that's what we're calling him," Vasquez huffed, getting a light laugh from Lucy in response before she turned serious again.

"It's just a couple days, I promise. Now that we're actually together, we're not spending any more months apart. We agreed, remember? Never again."

"I know, and I know I was stupid to believe the rumor without talking to you first-"

"You're not stupid, Vas. God, you're one of the smartest people I know."

Vasquez gave her an indulgent smile before remembering her insecurities.

"It's just, we took so long to finally get our shit together, and we're at a really good place now. I can't help but get scared it's all gonna get ripped away soon."

"It's been a year. I'm not gonna lie and say I don't get scared of that too - like, all the time - but I do know that it's not gonna be me leaving that makes us fall apart. They're gonna have to drag you from my cold dead hands before I let anyone take you away from me."

"Ok, Leo," Vasquez joked.

"Does that make you Rose?" Lucy teased back.

"You're lucky I love you, you dork."

"You started it! Ooh, we should definitely watch Titanic this weekend after I'm done with my contacts." Lucy ran a seductive hand up Vasquez's arm. "Maybe recreate that parked car scene?" Vasquez's shiver gave Lucy her answer.

 

The Waverider's sudden appearance was not at all expected, but definitely appreciated. At least by the Danvers sisters. The D.E.B.S. at large, however, were completely unprepared for and suspicious of the giant, time-traveling spaceship landing right outside their headquarters. Their secret headquarters that no one who wasn't a Deb should have had knowledge of or access to.

Mick's reaction to the whole experience was to thank them for the pretty on par welcoming party in comparison to most of their travels. The welcoming party being upwards of 30 armed, federal agents surrounding the Waverider and aiming loaded weapons at its inhabitants as they dismounted.

"Sara!" Kara screamed as she all but leaped into the ex-assassin's arms. Kara had come outside to see what all the fuss was about and was not disappointed with what she found.

The Captain was the last to leave her ship and found herself with an armful of Kryptonian, which she was definitely not complaining about.

"Woah, buy a girl dinner first," Sara breathed through the steel trap of arms bearing down on her. Kara immediately let go and stepped back, blushing. It was exactly what Sara had been aiming for.

"Everyone, it's ok! It's just the Legends. Remember, from Earth 1?" Kara said smiling after she turned around, trying to placate the rest of the agents and get them to lower their guns. (Which they did. No one could resist Kara's smile, truly.)

Alex finally approached the crew to lead them into the D.E.B.S. headquarters to find a place where they could talk privately. As they walked through the base, Sara and Kara hung toward the back of the group.

"So, that's the sister, huh?" Sara asked her.

"Yup!" Kara answered excitedly as they walked into the conference room Alex had picked out.

"Interesting." Sara had only met Kara the one time, back on Earth 1 when the Dominators attacked, but she had left quite the impression. Now that she was seeing the other half of the Danvers sisters for the first time, she was wondering if perhaps her attention would be more readily reciprocated by the less blonde of the two. In other words, Sara had taken one look at Alex, and her gaydar had gone wild.

By the end of the day, though, Sara's flirting had gone squarely back to where it had started: focused on Kara. It was just too much fun making the superhero blush to move on completely. While flirting with Alex had its own appeal, the agent was too focused on why the Legends had visited for Sara to get any real enjoyment out of it. Maybe under different circumstances though...

Speaking of why the Legends had visited - Since fighting the Dominators on Earth 1, Kara had resolutely kept up her friendship with Barry and Oliver. (Winn had named them Superflarrow and insisted they were his OT3. Mon-El liked Karivarry for their ship name better.) Cisco had found a way for them to communicate cross-universe without having to physically cross universes, and they had been taking advantage of it. Kara had been using it lately to complain about all things Cadmus that had been going on lately, and with the recent appearance of Cyborg Superman in addition to the still-at-large Metallo, Barry and Oliver were worried. They knew Supergirl was more than capable of handling herself, but they wanted her to have at least the option of back up. So, they sent a call in to the White Canary, who was more than happy to make a visit to Earth 38 and get another chance to flirt with the adorable, Kryptonian powerhouse.

 

"I love it when we have Earth 1 people here! God, can you imagine how many different universes there are out there?" Winn asked Mon-El, on the verge of entering full-on geek mode.

"Right? There are probably so many versions of us."

"Ooh, like one where you're not an alien but actually an evil witch, or one where I can sing, or one where you're dating Kara instead of me..."

"Ugh, can you even imagine? I mean, we have no chemistry at all."

"I know!" Winn laughed with his boyfriend as they continued through the base, talking about all the possible variations of their lives they could be leading somewhere. They both agreed that the one they were in was the best.

 

The Waverider's unexpected visit ended up being a blessing since, not even 24 hours after its landing on Earth 1, Metallo was defeated, stabilized, and securely imprisoned in a federal holding cell. With the help of Lucy's contacts in the criminal underground, which totally paid off, as well as the Legends team, the D.E.B.S. were able to both find and capture Metallo in the most seamlessly executed plan in D.E.B.S. history, at least to hear Cat tell it. Cyborg Superman had retreated so far underground, not even the help of a metal detector could find him. While your narrator won't bore you with the boring details of the 6 hour planning session or the gory details of the 46 minute fight, she will leave you with this final image of the aftermath:

Kara, in all her Supergirl glory, flying out of the scene of the showdown, hair billowing in the wind

A smug-looking Sara, decked out in her White Canary leather, being flown out in a bridal carry by Supergirl

Mon-El staring whistfully at Kara and Sara, wishing he was man enough to pull of a bridal carry to victory, as he and Winn walked behind with a restrained Metallo

James looking on from the sidelines, Guardian helmet finally taken off, having realized that he was of no use in this fight

Firestorm flying above their team, perfectly in sync, watching below as Mick, Amaya, Ray, Nate, and Zari followed after their Captain

Alex, trailing after her sister, crying while she held up her dad, rescued, right where he belonged, both feeling happier than either of them had in their whole lives

Cat, Hank, Lucy, Vasquez, and the rest of the D.E.B.S. agents back at the base applauding the whole team for their win, not only in apprehending Metallo, but also in finally bringing Jeremiah back home

And a giant explosion of the lab, the location for the showdown with Metallo and rescue of Jeremiah, to frame the scene

 

Alana was furious. She really wanted to kick something. And she totally would if she didn't have to be all business and unsuspicious and undercover in this stupid shithole of a home base. If she were back in her lab - her beautiful, sterile lab - she'd be able to make as much noise as she wanted, demolish as much equipment as she wanted, and no one would bat an eye.

"Stupid fucking superhero deb assholes," she muttered, pacing back and forth through her office as she tried to think up a way to fix this mess.

One of their best soldiers had been captured, one of their best assets rescued, and their most important lab exploded into nothing. Now their operation was down to a handful of basement enterprises and single-unit operatives scattered throughout the country with minimum communication. Lillian's arrest had been one thing, but with this latest smackdown, Cadmus was more crippled now than they ever had been.

And to top it all off, she didn't even have an excuse to get rid of that fake Luthor wannabe because she hadn't had anything to do with this absolute clusterfuck of a situation, much to her dismay.

She mentally berated herself for cursing, even just to herself, remembering Lillian's views of the habit as base and unbecoming.

Alana would just have to be even more patient, even more calculating, waiting for the perfect moment to make her move and make Lillian proud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> stein is not dead! that crossover never happened. no nazis lived to see the making of this fic. superheroes punch nazis, not the other way around. duh.
> 
> still team #throwmonewintospace, but I don't feel so bad about james' character anymore now that he's fallen into the show's hot nonsense
> 
> also maybe y'all are like, oh hell no, sara is an independent woman who don't need no superhero to fly her out of danger, but I'd like to think she (like all of us) would put away her pride for a chance to be held in those big strong arms
> 
> ps. thanks Artemis_Luna for the ot3 inspiration
> 
> pps. you're right, Jazzfordshire, two people could definitely fit on that damn door! (loving your titanic fic so far and can't wait to finish!)
> 
> ppps. Lola_McGee is still my hero and writing inspiration atm


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of the giant vignette chapter
> 
> (still bigger than I thought it would be)
> 
> (still uploading later than I hoped I would be)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AKA LIVEWIRE IS NOT DEAD, BITCH
> 
> so I hint at some things in this chapter which I would maybe be willing to expand on in some one shots if anyone is interested... or if anyone wants to volunteer to guest write some stuff for me?? hmu @thescreamingbisexual on tumblr
> 
> ALSO. I've been helping out with this webseries my friend is making. it's very gay and has a super diverse cast and crew and I would absolutely love it if you guys helped us out with the fundraising.  
> you can find the indiegogo page [here](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-bech-youtube) and find a store with lots of gay and feminist and fandom stuff [here](http://www.storenvy.com/stores/1141209-the-bech)  
> please please please consider donating or buying some merch to support this awesome project!!

"I'll get the board set up!" Kara called excitedly.

"I'll go get snacks," Eliza offered.

"Don't forget the twizzlers!" Kara demanded.

"I never do," she replied.

"You have any of that bourbon from last time?" Alex asked, hesitant. She was still treading lightly with this whole situation.

"I can check. Jerry, a hand?" Apparently, Eliza was having no such qualms. She had jumped back into calling Jeremiah 'Jerry' immediately, like no time had passed at all. Well, immediately as in after the straight hour of crying with her arms wrapped around his shoulders she spent when they were first reunited.

"Of course, Liz." He may have been gone for 12 years, but some things never changed.

Jeremiah followed his wife into the kitchen to the welcome sounds of his two daughters bickering.

"God, I've missed this," he sighed once they were alone again.

"Catering to Kara's otherworldly appetite? Literally?" Eliza joked.

"No," Jeremiah replied with a laugh. "Well, that too, everything really, but no, I meant our daughters. Fighting, laughing, all of it."

"It was more fighting than laughing, especially for the first few years," Eliza admitted.

"And I want to hear all of it. Every single minute. I want you to tell me about everything I missed," he pleaded.

"I will," Eliza promised. "We have all the time in the world for that now," she said with a giant, teary-eyed smile.

 

"I call the car!" Alex demanded the second her parents were out of earshot in the kitchen.

"You're always the car," Kara said, pouting.

"So?"

"So, what if someone else wanted to be the car this time?"

"Someone like you?"

"No." She was quiet for a moment. "Nevermind, forget it."

"No, what? Tell me," Alex prodded.

"I was just thinking that we should be giving him whatever he wants. He deserves it," Kara finished quietly.

"You're right, Kara. He does. But dad was always the top hat, remember?" Alex reminded her gently.

"Yeah. He said it made him feel distinguished." Kara remembered. She remembered everything.

"So why did you think he'd want to be the car?" Alex asked.

"I didn't really. I just feel so g-"

"Don't you dare say guilty right now, Kara, or so help me..." Alex interrupted.

"Why not? I should feel guilty! It's my fault he was there!" Kara protested.

"Kara Zor-El Danvers, you listen to me right now. None of that was your fault, just like Krypton dying wasn't your fault and Kal-El not taking you in wasn't your fault and Astra betraying you wasn't your fault and my drinking wasn't your fault. You carry far too much on your shoulders, my beautiful alien girl. Those were all our choices, and no one blames you for them. Not for a second."

"But-"

"No. No buts. I guarantee you mom and dad are in the kitchen right now talking about how much they love us and love us all being here together, not blaming you for the time we spent apart. You have brought far more joy into all of our lives than pain, young lady."

"I'm technically older than you," Kara pointed out lamely, trying to break the heavy mood that had settled between them before her foster parents came back. She got Alex's tongue stuck out at her for her efforts.

 

"Ladies, thank you for coming."

"Well, when President Marsden calls, who are we to deny her?" Lois said as she and her wife walked up to the table.

"Please sit. I have some wine on its way that I think you'll love, Cat."

"You did always know my taste so well, Liv," Cat complimented as she and Lois sat across from Olivia.

"It's a good thing my wife's taste is so similar to my own, then. I'm sure we'll both love what you've picked out." Lois felt Cat grip her thigh under the table, a placation as much as it was a silent plea to behave.

"You know, it's funny - back in the day, neither of you would have ever admitted to having anything in common. Other than maybe your ambitions," Olivia teased good-naturedly.

"And yet, something tells me that our ambition is more in line with what we're here to discuss than reminiscing about our college days," Cat observed.

"Well, you're right about that, Cat. I guess we'll get right to it." Olivia paused as the waiter came out and poured them all wine. "Cadmus."

"What about it?" Lois asked, suddenly feeling protective of the petite woman next to her.

"The D.E.B.S. have done a wonderful job of taking them down."

"Thank you, Liv. And god, this wine. You still know what I like," Cat gushed to her old friend. She felt Lois tense beside her again, yet remain quiet.

"And I hear at the helm of it all was our very own Supergirl!"

"She was. You know, I mentored her myself," Cat bragged.

"Of course, how could I forget? You complained about her constantly when we would talk. The cardigans and broken equipment. Though I think we can all agree that's how you show affection. I mean, most people thought you two were sworn enemies before you finally got together. But we know better, don't we Lois?" Liv whispered to Lois conspiratorially.

"So we're here to talk about Supergirl then?" Lois responded, effectively steering the subject back to work.

"Right, yes. Supergirl."

"What about her, Liv? It's not like you to play coy. Spit it out," Cat ordered.

"I want to publicly honor her with an announcement of the D.E.B.S. commitment to end the Luthor crime organization once and for all."

"I'm listening," Cat responded, leaning forward.

"You know how... invested I am in ending the Luthors' reign of terror on alien life in this country," Liv said cryptically.

"I do," Cat replied, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"I want Supergirl to be the face of that mission, and in extension, the D.E.B.S."

"The D.E.B.S. aren't usually the face of anything," Lois reasoned.

"Not officially, but Supergirl is a household name at this point, D.E.B.S. or no," Olivia countered. "I honor her individually for taking down Cadmus, present her with a fancy presidential medal, and let her give a speech about her commitment to bringing in the last Luthor. Then everyone in the counterintelligence world will know exactly how far the D.E.B.S.'s reach is."

"I like it," Cat declared.

"You do?" Olivia clarified.

"Of course you do," Lois said in a huff.

"I'm so glad." As Olivia spoke, one of her secret service details leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry, ladies. It appears there's an urgent phone call for me. If you'll excuse me." Olivia stood up and went into another room in the empty restaurant for some privacy to take her call.

When she was gone, Cat looked over to Lois, who was still stewing, with a smug look on her face.

"Jealous, dear?" she asked innocently.

"Of your college roommate, the President, who you used to sleep with? No, of course not. What is there to be jealous of?" Lois replied sarcastically.

"Oh, like you were some blushing virgin when we finally got together? Please. Need I remind you exactly who else was present when we finally fell into bed together?"

"Must you bring that up every time?" Lois groaned.

"No. I just like teasing you," Cat said with a grin.

Lois glared suspiciously at her.

"You did that on purpose!" she accused in a harsh whisper.

"Did what?"

"Flirted! You flirted with the President of the United States on purpose to make me jealous!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cat said, still deflecting. "But, if I did, it would only be because I was thinking about how much better sex is with you when you're angry," she finished in a sly whisper and with a finger trailing to the inside of Lois's thigh. She left it there even as Olivia returned to their table to continue their planning of this award ceremony with Supergirl, Lois getting redder and stiller and angrier and hornier by the minute.

 

James stepped off the curb and hailed a cab, duffle bag across his shoulder. As he slid in, he rattled off an address to the cabbie he long ago memorized, anxious to finally get to the safe haven he'd been missing. He watched street lights and office buildings speed past his window, allowing himself to get lost in thought. He couldn't wait to be wrapped up in those arms that were strong enough to bear his burdens for him, the arms that would bring him the comfort he hadn't been able to find in the woman he had fallen in love with, the arms that always felt like coming home. The cab finally pulled up in front of the drab apartment building and, to James, it couldn't have come soon enough. Yet, at the same time, he was somewhat nervous.

What if it had been too long? What if he had lost this comfort too in his break up with Kara?

Before he could talk himself out of it, he had ridden up the elevator and was standing outside the door. Apartment 201. He took a deep breath and knocked. When the door opened, he felt like he was finally able to breathe again. His shoulders slumped, and his bag dropped to the ground as he was enveloped into a comforting hug. The weight bearing down on him got so much lighter with the utterance of just one word.

"Jimmy."

 

"Miss Grant's schedule is extremely full, Kiera. I'm sure you're remembering a time when you were working under her and she could devote as much time as she wanted to you, but things are different now. She's the director of D.E.B.S. now, so she's very busy, and she trusts me to make sure she's using her time for the _important_ things," Siobhan said as she strode purposefully down the hallways of the D.E.B.S. headquarters.

"Come on, Siobhan, my name is Kara. I know you know that. I don't know why you'd use Cat's petty game of using the wrong name when I know for a fact how much you hate it when she does it to you." Kara couldn't understand Siobhan's attitude since she started working for Cat. It was like her self-importance made her feel entitled to things she wasn't getting in her job, so she was spreading her misery to everyone other than the person responsible.

"I'm sorry, _Kiera_ , but-" Siobhan's words were cut off by a bolt of electricity shooting down from the lights in the corridor into the floor in front of them. The lights in the whole sector shut off, emergency bulbs flashing ominously and security doors slamming shut on either end of the hallway, effectively sealing them in. The electricity continued to spark before materializing into human form. In the blink of an eye, Livewire was standing before them.

"Blondie! I've been waiting for a time to talk to you when it could be just us girls, but you're a hard one to get alone, you know that?" the platinum blonde asked the two women before her, one looking shocked (ha) and the other unsurprised by and even resigned to the intrusion.

"Hey, Leslie," Kara sighed out.

"Livewire," she corrected through gritted teeth.

"No, sorry, you're right," Kara apologized. "I was just talking to Siobhan here about misnaming people and how disrespectful it is." If Livewire was surprised by the apology, she didn't- Ok, no, she absolutely let on how unprepared she was for that kind of response from the girl of steel. Kara didn't exactly love Livewire, but she also didn't think she'd been so cruel to her that using her preferred name would throw her so off guard. Maybe Kara should work on that. "So, _Livewire_ , what brings you here to our humble, underground, secret government agency?"

"Ooh, testy. The girl scout's not in the mood for some girl on girl action? That's so unlike you," Livewire teased, picking up on Supergirl's exasperation with her.

"I've just got a lot going on right now, and I really don't want to fight you. So, if that's why you're here, can I please take a rain check?" On second thought, "Why _are_ you here?"

"Oh, you know, just checking in on my best frenemy, seeing what you're up do, how life is, maybe braid each other's hair for a while, paint each other's nails. How do you feel about electric yellow?"

"You're really just here to check in?" Kara stared at Livewire unbelievingly.

"It's like you said," Livewire continued more softly, "you've got a lot going on right now."

"You heard about all that?" Kara asked, genuinely perplexed by what seemed like actual concern coming from the metahuman.

"I've kept tabs. I'm not heartless." She scoffed.

"Livewire-" Kara started in a gentle tone.

Livewire saw Supergirl's apparent tender look at realizing she might actually give a shit about the hero, and quickly moved to cover up her vulnerable moment.

"But, if Buffy here doesn't want to play, I guess I'll just have to make do with Elvira to entertain me," she said, turning to the brunette who had been quietly observing the terse banter - followed by short emotional moment - with a shrewd eye (and somewhat dry mouth).

"I don't know what I could possibly do to entertain you, but if you want some advice, maybe go easy on the bleach next time. You look like an albino." Siobhan's first instinct was to cut a bitch down, especially when said bitch was sporting a particular brand of snark that was doing things to her that she'd rather not think about.

"I was right. You're gonna be a fun one," Livewire said, smirk firmly back in place and the most gleeful it had been since her explosive arrival. Livewire was fully aware that her 'enemies to friends' storyline with Supergirl was never going to have a 'to lovers' conclusion, but the same couldn't be said for the sultry assistant with the cutting remarks standing before her.

Siobhan didn't know how to handle being the subject of Livewire's full attention. Staring into those lightning eyes made her miss a breath. She sucked in a sharp inhale and handled this situation like she did every other that threw her off balance.

"And what, you think you'd ever get the pleasure of experiencing it?" With the illusion of complete control. "Oh honey, you only wish you could see just how _fun_ I can be."

Livewire snickered and began stepping back, electricity pulsing around her and forming sparks in her outstretched hand.

"We'll see about that," was Livewire's response. "Catch you next time, hot stuff."

"You're leaving? Just like that?" Kara asked, still not sure what exactly the purpose of this impromptu visit was.

"Just like that. Maybe next time you can send a postcard with how you're doing, save me the trip." With that, Livewire was back to being bolts of energy and disappeared back through the currents surrounding them (allowing Siobhan to finally release the breath it felt like she'd been holding since the moment the feisty meta arrived).

The security doors opened back up, and a team of D.E.B.S. entered from each side of the corridor, guns drawn and voices loud. When they finally realized that Kara and Siobhan were the only two present, the team quieted. Alex stepped forward, ordering them all to stand down and lower their weapons. When the D.E.B.S. dispersed, Alex turned to Kara.

"What the hell happened?"

"Livewire was here," Kara explained.

"Livewire?!"

Alex looked like she was about ready to call the whole team back again, so Kara quickly put her hands up to calm her sister.

"It's fine! She's gone, and no one's hurt."

"What'd she want?" Alex asked, only after taking a calming breath.

Kara went to respond, but Siobhan beat her to it.

"To flirt with our own resident Maiden of Might."

"Wha- No, I- She- That's not-" Kara tried to protest, only to yet again be interrupted by Siobhan.

"Why everyone is obsessed with you, I will never understand." Except she did understand: Siobhan had been so taken aback when she met Sunny Danvers for the first time that she made sure any interaction between them never went by without taking the perky blonde down a peg or two. And if anyone made a comparison to how another first meeting with an intrusive blonde resulted in bitchy comebacks from the brunette, well, clearly it had everything to do with pure, unadulterated loathing and nothing to do with any squishy feelings that may or may not exist.

With that, Siobhan began walking away from the Mayhem twins, as Pam from HR liked to refer to the two sisters. As she made her exit, she wondered if she would ever end up running into the famed Livewire again, telling herself she was dreading it.

"Ok, wanna explain to me what all that was about?" Alex asked when it was just the two of them.

"I honestly think she just came to check in with me," Kara reluctantly admitted.

"That's so weird," Alex scoffed as they made their own way out of the corridor.

"That's Les- Livewire for you."

 

Pam walked back to her office from yet another lecture with Mon-El about appropriate workplace behavior (read: not flirting with your boyfriend in an obscene manner in front of literally everyone you work with). As she passed the main lounge, she allowed herself a rare, small smile, secretly pleased that every single lemon coconut cookie she'd baked and anonymously dumped on a lounge table was gone in only the time it took to yell at Mon-El. She thought it might be a new record in how fast "The Baking Fairy"'s treats had disappeared and made a mental note to keep the cookies in her main rotation.

(Pam loved baking, but she hated attention; hence the anonymous treats and agency-famous moniker. If Pam wanted recognition, she'd be out there in the field with the other agents. Which is not to say she couldn't. Don't get her wrong - Pam was a badass in her own right. She could be right out there kicking evil ass with the rest of them if she wanted to. She just didn't want to. No, Pam was perfectly happy with her life as it was: making sure everything in the agency ran smoothly from behind the scenes and cleaning up the messes that were messy more in the abstract sense than the literal one. So, maybe she had a bit too much time on her hands when it came to her personal life. So what? That just meant she had more time to bake and learn about baking and watch baking television shows, all things she loved doing more than she would love any controlling boyfriend or whiny girlfriend who didn't understand the demands of her top secret job.)

"Hi, Pam!"

She heard the chipper voice and immediately schooled her features. But alas, she was too late. She'd been spotted.

"You're looking awfully chipper today. Got a little extra fairy dust," *wink* "to put some pep in your step?"

Kara.

Supergirl, Sunny Danvers, one half of the Mayhem Twins, member of the team that created the most paperwork for her and often made her want to rip her lustrous red hair out of her scalp, and the single living person to know her secret.

"Kara," Pam replied, attempting to keep her facial expression neutral. "I don't know what you're talking about." She kept walking past the Kryptonian and straight into her office, shutting her door behind her. It didn't keep out Kara's departing 'Bye, Pam!' though.

Damn those super senses. Kara could spot a smile from a mile away, hear gossip from around any corner, and - most damning in Pam's case - smell banana and flour wafting in the wake of someone who had baked fresh banana bread early that morning. Good thing her secrecy could always be bought by an extra batch of whatever Pam had made that day hiding in the hero's locker - the combinations to all of which sat in a drawer in Pam’s filing cabinet.

 

“You need to eat,” Jess said.

“I will when I’m done. I’m just about finished here,” Lena responded.

“You said that an hour ago.”

“Really?” Lena asked, finally looking up from the blueprints to glance at the clock.

“I’m serious. You need to stop and eat something. I know you skipped lunch since you didn't head to the park, yesterday _and_ today, so if you don’t get up right now and go sit down in front of something edible instead of the same blueprints you’ve been staring at for the past three hours, I’m going to drag you home with me where my mother is waiting for us to cook a hot pot together and she can grill you on your lack of a husband to give you babies for a change,” Jess ranted as she cleared away Lena’s work, all but forcing her to stop what she was doing.

“Well joke’s on you. I love your mother and your hot pot.”

“You say that like you’d actually give up a whole night to come sit through a tense family dinner with us.”

“No, you’re right. I do have a lot to get done still tonight if I want to make any progress on these designs.” At Jess’s unimpressed look, Lena continued with, “Progress which I will make _after_ I’ve run across the street for a salad.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Good,” Jess determined, nodding before she took her leave of her boss for the night.

“I don’t know where I’d be without you, Jess,” Lena called after her.

“Discovered by the cleaning crew on Monday having starved to death at your desk!”

The things Jess did for that woman. If she didn’t love her so damn much, she’d hate her for how bad of a job she did at taking care of herself. It had been better lately since Lena started heading out for lunch with the Deb every day like clock work.

Satisfied with Lena’s promise to feed herself, Jess made to head home where her mother was indeed waiting for her. Jess’s mother was incredibly proud of her daughter’s ability to make authentic Vietnamese, a fact which she enthusicastically relayed to any eligible Vietnamese bachelor she met. And non-Vietnamese bachelors. And eligible bachelorettes. And even random coffee shop barista’s whose relationship status she was completely ignorant of. Jess was half inclined to find a partner just to shut her mother up, but she knew it would never work. She was devoted to her job and her family, and she didn’t have time to fall in love on top of all of that (even if she had plenty of time to scheme with Maggie to make her boss fall in love).

Speaking of Maggie... Jess ran into her on her way out L-Corp's front doors.

"Heading to that bar of yours?" Jess asked as Maggie held the door open for her.

"Hmm? Oh, no. Not tonight," Maggie answered.

"Really?" Jess was surprised. "What is that, like the first night in two weeks you're not heading there?"

"I'm not always there," she protested. "I didn't go last night," she finished weakly.

"Just seems like it's kind of become your place. That's all." Jess tried to back off, sensing something going on with Maggie.

"Well, it's not."

"Ok, sorry."

Maggie sighed.

"No, I'm sorry. It's just been a weird couple days," she explained

"Lena suck you into her workaholic attitude and get you skipping lunch too?" Jess asked, trying to give her the out.

"Something like that." Maggie laughed, taking it. "I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked as they got to their cars.

"Tomorrow," Jess agreed. She chose not to comment on the fact that Kara's absence from Lena's week was coinciding with Maggie's mood and night off from the bar.

 

As Kara went to leave the D.E.B.S. base for the night, she was stopped by the receptionist.

“Supergirl!”

Kara turned around to find Eve with a giant bouquet of flowers in her arms and more surrounding every square inch of her desk in every color, size, shape, and arrangement. They smelled and looked beautiful, and Kara found herself almost jealous that Eve, or whoever they were for, had someone who cared for them so much.

“Looks like you’ve got a secret admirer,” Kara said, somewhat amazed that someone had found their base to deliver all those flowers.

“Oh no, these are for you. And my admirer is in Metropolis for that convention I told you about,” Eve explained.

“For me?!” Kara stared at Eve, open-mouthed. She couldn’t imagine anyone who would go through the trouble of sending her flowers, let alone this many. The thought that it could be James flitted through her mind for a split second before she remembered that he was also in Metropolis, last she heard.

“Mm-hmm,” Eve confirmed. “There’s a card.” She handed it to Kara. It read:

_“Just because we suspended lunch this week, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get to see all the beauty nature has to offer. I hope everything is going well at home. Until we meet again. <3”_

Kara was frozen. She couldn't believe Lena had done this for her. She was so touched that Lena had gone so out of her way even after Kara had cancelled their standing lunch da- appointment for the week. Lena was such a great friend. Kara felt so loved and appreciated in that moment even with everything else going on in her life - getting her foster father back, figuring out how to be part of a family again, trying to clear Lena's name while keeping the investigation a secret from the rest of the D.E.B.S. - and she didn't know how she was ever going to thank her. Knowing her though, Kara knew that Lena would just wave it off, saying something like, "What are friends for?"

When Kara finally snapped out of her stupor and moved again, all she could say was, "Wow." She began gathering up the giant bouquets and thanked Eve for keeping them safe her her before making her way to the exit.

Eve would know those heart eyes anywhere. She’d been the victim of giving off some pretty lethal ones herself once upon a time (and still would be if it weren’t for Kara’s help).

Eve snapped a photo of Kara leaving the base, arms full of flowers balancing precariously tall for anyone without superpowers, and sent it to the group chat she had created with the message, “Bets on who's got Kara so smitten?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need your help, comment warriors! the next chapter of my supercorp debs au is alex’s coming out chapter. I’ve got it all mapped out for how it’s gonna go. what I haven’t decided on is Kara’s response. so, I need y'all to tell me which you like better.
> 
> option 1: kara reacts exactly how she does in the show but later comes back and says she never really thought about it because she already had so many other things to hide to try to be normal but maybe she’s kind of like alex too
> 
> option 2: kara’s like duh I knew that and I totally like girls too and lists all the reasons she knew both of them were gay/bi af  
> I was gonna go ahead and list all those reasons for you, but gotta leave something for the actual chapter, right?
> 
> so… thoughts? the first one would be more angsty and the second one more cracky. I feel like crack is definitely where debs lives, but I also live for kara feels, so idk… come holla at me on tumblr if you want to help me talk it out :) @thescreamingbisexual


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